Without Fault
by The Red Strings
Summary: Hermione was to serve him and only him, Klaus, the Original Hybrid, for she had sacrificed everything for Harry, even her own life. Klaus expected great things from her in six years' time. So when he is ready to come to collect her, it seemed he had bargained more than what he had initially asked for. What a snarky witch she was. -Hints of one-sided Klaroline-
1. To Serve

**So I've been toying around with the idea of Hermione and Klaus being together since my first oneshot. This was intended to be another one, but it got too long so it will probably end up as three-shot. It was inspired by Placebo's song **_**Running up that Hill. **_**It was basically what gave birth to this whole idea.**

**It's ****not**** a continuation of **_**The Sweetest Eyes, **_**I've already begun a sequel on that. **

**It might be long as well, and it's a bit less fluffy.**

**This one is a lot less fluffy than the other, and I hope I was able to capture Hermione's hate and Klaus's, well, **_**personality**_**. **

**Anyways, moving on!**

**Make sure to read the bottom for definitions and stuff!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either series, **_**Harry Potter**_** or ****_The Vampire Diaries_.**

* * *

**.:Part One:.  
To Serve**

**_...May 5th..._  
**

He could almost remember her words, the blood that stained her fragile, dainty hands. He could see her now, curled up to that boy's body, her lovely eyes going dry with the amount of tears that she was crying. He remembered appearing in front of her, both curious and amused by her and her kind. Klaus sometimes thought about the witch who sold her services to him in order to save that boy's life.

She pleaded, she prayed, she even sold the entirety of her own being to him.

She made a deal with him as if he were some deity that held such power.

He remembered that he smirked at her proposition and those hopeful eyes, and for some odd reason, he agreed. She looked so broken and hopeful, the way she grasped his pant legs as if she were just some common beggar. So quietly beautiful she was, Klaus had thought, when he rubbed the dry blood from her cheeks.

Such a tragic soul.

He grinned.

In exchange for his blood to heal the useless boy, this crying girl, who was _barely an adult_, would come to him in a six years time. Klaus would come to collect her, knowing that her kind would always keep up their end of the bargain. And so this witch, this _woman_, would be by his side for her entire existence.

Only in his death will ever be she free from his grasp.

That or _her_ own.

"What are we doing here, brother?" Elijah's curious voice broke the spell of old memories.

Klaus gave his brother a dark, amusing look.

"We are here to collect something of mine, my dear brother. A business trip, you could say."

His brother didn't even blink at his words; he merely nodded as if he understood him and his eccentricities. If his brother had business in England, then he shall not question his younger sibling. Elijah knew that his brother needed much distraction after the whole incident back in the States.

"May I ask who you are doing business with?" the eldest Original inquired, casually fixing his hair.

Klaus gave his brother a sardonic grin.

"A wand-wielder that goes by the name of Hermione Granger."

**~x~**

**_...May 7th..._  
**

Hermione had been counting down her days, restless and hoping that he would not appear on her doorstep. She was afraid, and rightfully so since she, the brightest witch of their age, had foolishly sold basically her whole life to a monstrosity, a demon, a _vampire_. What a foolish child she was back then, six years ago, and _now _she was praying the price.

All in order to save Harry's life from a fatal wound to the chest.

_His blood was everywhere, her hands were covered in it, and she couldn't stop it from pouring out from his chest. Applying simple amounts of pressure couldn't have bought him any more time to continue on. He was going to die, she_ **knew **_that, but she couldn't give up on him. _

_She could never give up on Harry.  
_

Hermione grimaced at the gruesome memory.

It was her dirty secret to keep.

Nobody knew about her deal with this creature.

It was only between her and this vampire, Klaus.

Hopefully he has forgotten about her by now, but then again, vampires never forget, especially an _Original_ vampire like him. He would never forget the oath she made to him: to serve him and only him. Oh, how foolishly brave she was to do so.

Hermione was still the brightest witch of their age, and she will not let one brash, impulsive mistake change that. It was a decision that she _cannot_ regret despite the fact it was the end of life as she knew it. No more Harry, no more Teddy, and no_ more _Hogwarts.

For heaven's sake, she had to resign her position as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor a few weeks prior! She even had the goodbye letters written and sealed, ready to be delivered by her owls. If she were to say goodbye, she would as well do it properly with drafts and her special ink and quill. Hermione will go down in the most dignified manner, noble even.

But today she had the luxury to lose it.

"Merlin!" She cried, pulling out her hair in frustration.

She studied and researched like a mad woman about the Originals, more specifically about this Niklaus Mikaelson. Everything became difficult with each text she read, bringing her to older and rarer texts that barely told her anything _specific_ about these old creatures. Information was scattered throughout different cultures, mediums, and legends. Hermione knew some information about this Niklaus, but not enough to make her feel comfortable.

All she knew was that she would be walking directly into the fiery pits of Hell.

Hermione's shoulders sagged a little, defeated and tired. She already had her bags packed as well as her boxes, waiting everyday for this vampire to come and take her. Did she need her things in her new life? What did he expect of her? What did Klaus _want _from her?

She knew she had to keep her end of the bargain. Vampires, _Originals,_ expected things from humans when they make deals with them, much like demons. They were demons, dark creatures that preyed upon the living. Hermione was afraid because she knew that old beings, such as Klaus, were unpredictable.

She needed to honor her word or death will come to everyone she knew and care about.

_Hermione wasn't stupid._

She bit her lip, trying to keep her sobs at bay, trying to welcome the warmth that the fireplace had to offer her but everything felt numb.

It was a sad and lonely night of many more nights to come.

Her life would be forgotten, her existence would be washed away in her friends' memories. The only thing that will always fully remember her would be these books, these _useless_ books. Only the words of another would be her legacy.

Someday her friends would forget her face, her voice, her _existence_ in their lives.

And that sad thing is that she might do the same.

So she drank to her heart's content that night, drowning in not only in liquor but her tears as well.

She drank until cried herself silly to sleep.

And in the morning light, Hermione faintly heard a soft knocking on her door.

Hermione politely told them to _bugger off and leave her the hell alone_ all in one hurried sentence of a mumble.

She even remembered the soft chuckles on the other side of the door.

**~x~**

**_...May 10th..._  
**

He has been watching her for a few days now, waiting and studying her as if she were just some skittish animal. She might as well as be with the way she always glanced over her shoulders, and how she would always walk among crowds. It was as if she was trying to comfort herself with the idea that he wouldn't be able to find her.

He smirked at the witch's antics.

Klaus didn't know what to exactly think of her.

_Oh, you know exactly what you are thinking about her,_ Kol would say, grinning from ear to ear in that cheap imitation of the Chesire cat expression of his.

She looked different from all those years ago. The witch still had her long limbs and almost shapeless figure, or perhaps it was her clothes that were deceiving his eyes. Her hair was still wild with its coiling curls, and her face was void of any real emotion.

_Cautious. _

What a pity, he thought.

He really wanted to see fear in those warm eyes of hers.

And so he followed her, enjoying the way she sent worried glances over her shoulders, knowing that someone was watching her. Klaus smirked, sauntering down the streets of London as he followed her back to her home. He wondered why she settled to live among regular humans when this woman was a war veteran.

Yes, Klaus was no idiot.

He had taken a keen interest in this Hermione girl, and he had read about her from several books and articles from the beginning of her magical career until the end of the war. Such a loyal girl she was, and it made him think of her as a brave woman. A brave but foolish woman for even making a deal with him.

She was twenty-four now.

Perhaps she has become a bit wiser in the last six years since he had last seen her.

"Why are you following me?"

Well, that was a surprise, he didn't even notice her disappear in front of him.

Hermione's voice was shrill, and she looked like a peeved cat with the way her hair stood up as if that would defend her from him. Klaus chuckled, feeling the tip of her wand on the back of his neck. She was indeed a heroine, blind and stupidly bold.

"Why hello, Hermione darling," he greeted her with a pleasant smile, looking over his shoulder, "I've come to fetch you. Surely you didn't forget our deal?"

Klaus took pleasure in seeing those eyes widen in surprise and how her body slightly shook with fear, yet she held her ground when she stared him down. This witch was trying to put on a brave façade, and it intrigued him even more when she didn't run and scream bloody hell at the sight of him.

Most people tried to at least escape his grasp the _first_ time.

"Klaus." It was _horror_ whispered from her lips.

He loved the way she looked so courageous and fragile at the same time.

Such a pretty doll, and he was excited to play with her.

"Oh, Hermione." Klaus cooed.

**~x~**

**_...May 12th..._  
**

"Brother, we have been here over a week, and dear Rebekah is throwing a hissy fit because of our absence," Elijah frowned, swirling his aged wine out of boredom, "Have you contacted this Miss Granger?"

Klaus gave him a sly smile.

"Why yes, I have. She has agreed to come here tomorrow with her stuff. I've sent some of my _children_," he sounded so proud at the mention of his hybrids, "to her house just in case she needed an extra pair of hands."

Apparently his words had enough effect to catch his older brother's attention.

"You did not mention you were taking in any strays," Elijah's eyebrows furrowed together, slightly unnerved by his brother's calm expression. He knew his brother was a bit of his rocker, even more so after that incident with that Forbes girl, but now he truly believes that Klaus has, in fact, fallen _completely _off and far from his rocker.

Elijah could deal with his brother's violent mood swings, his deviant personality, and his overall strangeness, but he could not allow his brother to take in strangers as if they were lost animals, especially if they were a _wand-wielder._ They were not to be trusted, Klaus knew that, Rebekah knew that, and even the bloody **Salvatore **brothers knew that.

Every magical 'creature' knew that the English lot were the most prejudice and trickiest.

"You are taking in an English witch?" he sounded incredulous.

"Yes, brother, I am, and do not question me. I saved that boy she loved so much in exchange for her service, brother. Her magic is different from those other witches," Klaus chortled a bit too gleefully, "And I am her master, brother. _Her owner_."

"Nik," Elijah sighed, "What makes you think she will honor her word and not, oh I don't know, put everything on fire? Including both you and me?"

He got even more annoyed when his brother continued to guffaw.

"Oh, dear Elijah! It's perfect really, the way she was so desperate, to the point to even do an oath," Klaus's smile got even brighter as he leaned closer to his brother, "She can't betray us. Sure she can put our things on fire, but she doesn't know _that._ And if she does, not only is she dead, I can kill every person she has come to love so dearly."

"And if you are so clever," the eldest Original gave him an unimpressed look, "then why not simply compel her to do anything and everything?"

"Oh brother, you do not get it," Klaus started a bit dramatically, sipping on his own glass of wine, "It's better to see them terrified and fully-aware of what is at stake. Plus, she's a bit cute when she tries to be all brave. Endearing even."

Elijah shook his head in response.

His brother was a lost cause.

"Strays, my brother. One day she will bite the hand that feeds her."

If only he knew how true his words would be.

**~x~**

"Hermione, I don't understand. It's been six years," Harry choked up on his words, eyes bright with tears, "why are you leaving _now?"_

She patted his cheek with an almost sad smile.

"There's a bigger world out there, Harry. Bigger than Hogwarts, bigger than England, bigger than the life I have built here. I can't stay here when I know life is more than _just this._" She whispered, hoping that she didn't look so devastated. Klaus has come to get her, and she needed to be by his side.

Harry couldn't know what she has done.

He's not to blame for her decisions.

"But Mione-" she placed her finger on his lips, effectively hushing him.

Harry couldn't know she swapped their places.

"Harry, let me live my life," Hermione said the lies so flawlessly, "And keep Teddy happy. He needs you."

Hermione wanted to tell him everything, the _truth_, but she doesn't. She simply stood in front of him with sad eyes in this empty house of hers. All these years were wasted on nothing but books and research, no love, no excitement. It was as if she simply stopped living because she feared it so. And so this **empty **life of hers was now boxed up and on its way to America, the Land of the _Free_.

Oh, the irony of her situation, she wanted to say.

But she couldn't because she can't.

Besides, her life wasn't one she would miss terribly, except her friends.

She would miss _them_ terribly.

"But _we _both need you, Mione!" he shouted, sounding a bit childish with his words, "Don't we matter?"

Merlin, he sounded so tired, _so old._

She could imagine see Teddy's teary eyes if he was here right now, pulling on her hand and begging her not to leave. She was his favorite _Aunt Herowine,_ after all, and he was her favorite little boy. Hermione wouldn't have a chance against those tears of his.

So she held back her own.

"You do matter, Harry! But I'm _wasting away!_ Don't you understand? You have Ginny and Teddy, and you have your own child on the way! What do I have? Books and research, theories, all these things don't matter if I don't," her voice cracked as much as her heart does, "if I don't _**live**_."

When did she become such a good liar?

Harry's head hung low, looking like a kicked puppy. With open arms, she held him tightly against her. Here she was leaving her life, her friend, _her brother_ in order to protect him and everyone else. Who knew one decision would change several lives?

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't know." Harry apologized softly, holding back his tears.

He reminded her of that little eleven-year old boy who was starved for affection all those years ago.

"It's okay, Harry."

_It really wasn't_, she wanted to say.

"I'll visit you whenever I can."

_I can never come back_, she **needed** to tell him.

"A-and I will bring back a hot bloke who's madly in love with me."

_And that can never happen_, she **_had_** to confess.

But instead she settled for those words and this small and last moment with her best friend, she enjoyed the small rumble in his chest as he chuckled. Her little Harry had grown up so much, and hopefully he'd continue on doing so without her. Hermione gave him a bright smile that meant absolutely _nothing _except a bitter **goodbye.**

She breathed in his sweet scent, knowing that Ginny was probably baking again in that picturesque home of theirs.

_Hermione could almost see a house full of mini-Harrys and Ginnys, _but all she can see now was her giving up a joyous and peaceful dream.

With one last squeeze, she let him go, hopelessly trying to keep everything together inside.

"Goodbye Harry."

Her voice sounded so small.

Harry's green, green eyes would always be remembered.

_So green. So sad. __Don't leave. _

"Bye Mione."

Hermione turned away before she could even see that sad expression on his face. She walked away before she could even cry. She closed the door before she could really feel everything falling down around her. And so she disapparated with a small '_pop_' before she could even change her mind.

She swapped their places in life.

Where Harry would a happy life that he _deserved_, Hermione condemned herself into servitude.

But that's okay.

She will be okay.

** ~x~**

What Harry didn't know wouldn't kill, she thought, as she strolled beside a younger man, _a boy_ really, in the streets of London. He claimed that he was sent by Klaus to _escort_ her, and for a split second, she felt rage towards not only Klaus but the boy as well. Someone _younger_ was to escort her?

Clearly the Original did not know of her history.

"Um, so what's a girl-" dark eyes rolled down her figure "-like you doing business with a man like Klaus?" He tried to be charming with that American accent of his and that pitiful excuse of a smile.

"The name is Hermione Granger. And I made an oath to him that if he were to save my best friend's life that I would give my services as a witch to him." She answered, straight to the point, no pussyfooting when it came to this.

He simply gave her a low whistle.

"Tyler Lockwood at your service, Hermione, and wow, well did he at least save your friend?"

"Of course he did, or I wouldn't be here today." She snapped, her anger coming from a low simmer to a boil. But being angry wouldn't help her situation either, and being snarky with this teenage boy wouldn't make her feel any better. It wouldn't change anything at all since everything was all said and done.

And so Hermione did a small breathing exercise that Ginny had once showed her.

"Well, what's a teenager doing with a man like Klaus? Much less, across a whole entire ocean from his family?" Hermione asked.

"Ah, right. Well, Klaus sired me," Tyler said with an awkward shrug, uncomfortable for admitting such a thing, "Can't really say no when he is like the Almighty with the bond."

"So you're a vampire?" She asked since she was a bit unimpressed by his appearance. Despite his football player physique, Hermione didn't find him intimidating. She pegged him as a young boy of this century, a young foolish boy who let himself into this mess. Like her when she was young and foolish, and perhaps she still was.

"Ah, no. I'm a hybrid, a werewolf-vampire to be exact," he answered her; scratching the back of his neck as if they were discussing something so mundane like the weather rather than the fact he was a _hybrid.  
_

_Especially a werewolf-vampire.  
_

"_A hybrid_?" She felt fear shot up her spine at his confession, "How is that even **possible**?"

Her voice sounded so shrill.

He shushed her, making sure she wasn't attracting unwanted attention on the streets with the way her voice was rising up an octave. Tyler didn't appreciate the way she looked at him as if he was a little boy nor did he like the fact that she now looked at him with such disdain, _displeasure. _That angry expression didn't suit well on her lovely face, and he knew that he would get a hell of a beating if he brought her to Klaus, pissed off and ready to bite.

"Can you not freak out? Just for a second please?" He brought his finger to his lips while he placed a steady hand on her shaking shoulder.

She flinched at his touch.

"Get your hands off of me!" She hissed, slapping his hand away from her.

"Just bring me to your _sire,_" she spat out the word with such disdain, "Vampire-Werewolf hybrids are against nature. In the end, you will all be punished for being such things. Our kind doesn't use earth magic as much as we use core magic, but the balance of energy flowing throughout this world is important. Being nearly _that_ nearly indestructible is unnatural. Do you know how **_horrible _**nature will retaliate because of this?"

Hermione wanted to end him right then and there, feeling the old Gryffindor soldier that she was once resurfacing. She knew she could do it easily with one spell, but she also knew that this was a young boy she would be taking a life from. She already killed so many, so why not add another abomination on the list?

At first, his expression spoke of sadness, but all that quickly morphed into childish anger.

"I know, but I wanted to escape the pain of being a werewolf. You _don't _understand how painful it is to live by the moon, to _give _into these horrible instincts that aren't your own. So don't lecture me. You don't know."

And then everything came crashing down on her.

The memories of Professor Lupin and his wife Tonks were overwhelming. The memories of how difficult Remus's lycanthropy was, how he struggled to maintain his humanity, and all the hardships he had faced in his tragic and short life. Though, she knew that he would never trade it for a different monster so it would be _easier_. He understood himself well enough to know to know that just because one path was easy doesn't mean it wouldn't be more destructive.

And life rewarded him, albeit, a bit short.

All she could see were their happy expressions slowly becoming more solemn and hardened as the war continued on, but their hope was still there with that love they held for each other. She remembered the fleeting happiness on their faces of the birth of their son, Teddy. And within the span of a minute or so, she felt all the anguish and longing.

And she looked at him again with a blank expression, all feelings distinguished like a blown out candle.

"I may not know what it feels like to have your bones to break and reform into something else, but to trade a lesser burden for another? Only because the pain was _easier? _Coward." Was the only thing she said before moving on.

And Tyler couldn't help but to feel as if she truly exposed him for what he was.

**~x~**

**_...London-May 12th, 10:00 PM..._  
**

"You think yourself clever, don't you, Hermione?" Klaus asked, though, not really interested in what she had to say. He was merely passing the time they had on their flight since his brother decided to go in the occasional 'non-talking' phase.

It was safe to say Elijah was a bit peeved.

"Don't call me by my name," she spat, her pretty face twisted in a horrible scowl that didn't quite suit her.

Klaus clicked his tongue at her in disapproving manner, but he felt so great and drunk that he didn't even bother in reprimanding his new pet just yet. He was too giddy over the fact he has gotten hold of a _wand-wielder_, not to mention the most brilliant witch of her age. He simply chuckled at her attitude.

"Then what should I call you, love?"

She sent him an irritated glance. Here she was next to an Original vampire, no _hybrid_, and she couldn't bring herself to feel fear. Not now when all she felt was this anger that coiled tightly at the center of her being. Hermione didn't want her life too end just yet.

But Hermione couldn't help herself when he had taken the liberty to start spouting such idiotic nicknames for her.

"Don't call me by my name, don't give me pet names_ as if_ I am more than just a tool to you, Niklaus." She hissed, not caring if she pissed off the Original or not, "Call me Granger. You and I are nothing to each other. Just a witch and a _monster _that parents tell their children at night_._"

And in one swift motion, he had her jaw gripped tightly between his fingers, snarling into her face as if he was just some rapid dog. She saw his eyes brighten and change into a bright amber color, both frightening and surprising her at his quick transformation, but she simply squashed the feelings down as quickly as they had appeared. So his hybrid side comes out, ready to lash out at her.

Was it wrong that she felt fascinated by the way his veins protruded around his bright eyes?

Hermione lifted her chin slightly, her jaws clenched together as she looked defiantly back at him. If Klaus wasn't so downright _pissed_ at her attitude, he would have chuckled and simply patted her on the top of her head. Oh, but no, he was a _mean_ drunk, and even more horrid when provoked.

"Look here, _sweetheart,_" he hissed, "You are mine now. I will call you anything I want. Remember, girl, you sold yourself to me in order to save that pathetic boy."

He leaned close to her ear, and she could feel his lips form into a smirk against her skin.

"And besides," he breathed, sending shivers down her spine, "I'm not the only horror that they tell their kids at night, _witch_."

She struggled, she screamed, she even tried kicking him away from her but it seemed like her anger only fueled his. His grip began to tighten, making the pain even more unbearable, and Hermione knew she will have bruises there that she would have to hide. All she knew and saw at that moment was that ferocious expression of his.

"Klaus, you are going to break her jaw if you continue doing that."

Elijah's voice seemed to have instilled some sense and control back into the furious hybrid. Hermione felt his grip loosening as his fury died down, and finally, after a few moments later, he released her. He merely grumbled underneath his breath, trying to maintain his composure. The witch gave the other Original a thankful look, knowing now that she could not mess up around this violent man.

"Whatever," she heard him say in a petulant tone, reminding her of a pouting Teddy with the way he shifted his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Hermione listened to Elijah's exasperated sigh, and before she knew it, Klaus was once more in her personal space.

She could smell the sweet wine on his breath.

"What are you-" "_Sleep, Hermione. It's a very long flight. Sleep until I wake you up, okay Hermione? Sleep."_ Klaus's voice dropped an octave as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He gave her an expression that was akin to tenderness.

_**Lies.**_

She saw the way his pupils dilated at a fast rate, and for some strange reason, her body became heavier as her mind became cloudier. Hermione fought to stay awake, but it seemed that the man's words had a strong effect on her. The only thing she remembered was his arrogant smirk before she shut eyes, her mind slipping away in favor of dreams.

Damn vampires and their mind-compulsion.

**~x~**

**_...A Day Later...Bangkok, Thailand-May 14th, 10:00 AM..._  
**

As it turns out, America wasn't their initial destination, and for some odd reason, Hermione felt a sense of disappointment. She was hoping perhaps that whatever he needed her to do would be done and he would let her free from their deal, but that was like hoping for the chance to return something back to a shop after the thirty days mark. It was a horrible comparison, but that's what she felt at the moment.

She asked him where they were, and he simply said, "Not America, that's for sure."

Hermione quickly discovered that he had the same annoying humor as Draco Malfoy.

And the thought made her ache when she realizes that she even _misses_ that idiotic prat.

"We are going to some temple grounds," Elijah told her one morning when he entered her room, his face as stoic as always, "Nik would like to see the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, he says that he enjoys seeing the feet."

He said it in such a straight face that sometimes Hermione thought that he was pulling her leg at certain times. Honestly, with half the things that come from that mouth should not be said with that serious face of his.

Hermione learned that they were in Bangkok, Thailand.

She found it amusing that two of the oldest beings ever would go to such a tourist sight.

That day she saw the way the brothers interacted with each other, but she still felt nothing for these people. Klaus and Elijah would argue, similar to the way Ron and Ginny would, but in the end, they always agreed on one thing. It was too familiar, too normal, _too human._ They were simply here in her life because of they needed her.

But she didn't want to feel that sense of security just yet.

These were _the oldest_ vampires that have ever roamed the earth, despite one them being only half of an actual bloodsucker.

Hybrid.

She needed to ask _Klaus_, oh how she hated that name, how it was possible for him to be such a creature. However, she never brought herself to ask him in fear of him lashing out her, bruising her sometimes when he felt the need to prove his dominance over her. His _possession_ over her.

And so she simply stayed by their side.

Hermione quickly learned that Klaus and Elijah were the best people to learn history from when she stayed silent beside them. They were practically the best sources when they've practically roamed the earth since the fall of Rome. They astound her with their stories, and sometimes, she would see them with a certain knowing smirk on their lips.

It was as if they had plenty of inside jokes between them.

"I've always enjoyed the East," Klaus told her on the way from one of their temple runs, "They love to integrate the old and the new, and it makes me feel like I'm stuck in between times."

Hermione stayed silent, uncaring and blank.

And Klaus found it very annoying with the way she avoided looking him in the eye.

"I want verbena in my collection of herbs." She told him, trying so hard to keep her eyes outside of the window, as if the passing streets and vendors were so interesting from this place in the car.

He gave her an indescribable look.

"You get what you earn."

And he went back to sipping on his expensive champagne.

**~x~**

Hermione woke up with a start as a storm continued to rage outside of her large hotel window. She didn't know where they were, but she was guessing there were still somewhere in Asia with its monsoon season. They traveled somewhere out of Thailand, and all she knew that they were closer to the eastern coast. With her wand, Hermione casted a quick anti-break charm on her window, and with a reassured sigh, she crawled back into her sheets.

She was sad and lonely, but not enough to long for the either of the brothers' company.

And she thanked whatever deity was listening to her when the brothers decided to get separate rooms for her. Hermione knew that she wouldn't have been able to keep her sanity if she were to share her _actual_ space with them. Though, she didn't mind Elijah much since most of the time he's such a stick in the mud.

But she would have at least put Klaus's eyebrows on fire a few times in order for him to leave her alone. Hermione longed for her home that _wasn't_ exactly home anymore. The only thing that makes her think of it as such is the memories she has, the emotions she felt, and ones she loved that still remained.

Ron couldn't be counted as the one of the few that remained, however. How could he when he was in a comatose state? His heart was still beating and his lungs were still breathing, but that didn't mean he was living. She loved him, but she realized that the love she felt for him would have changed to resentment later on in their lives if he were still well today.

Hermione wasn't the type to settle at home and have a ton of kids when she knew that her spirit was beyond the job of a typical house wife. Would it be terrible of her to say that this was one blessing she saw from Ron's downfall? The pressure of marrying and loving him for all of her life being lifted off of her shoulders, the relief she felt of him gone?

Was she a terrible person for seeing that?

But then again, it seems she traded a life from one that restrained her to one where she was controlled. It was unintentional with the way things played out, and she couldn't say it was for the better either. The only thing that comforted her whenever she felt lonely in _this life_ is that Harry and everyone else was safe.

"_Goodnight._" She whispered to no one.

Or perhaps to these hopes and these thoughts that kept her up at night.

Hermione sighed, letting the rain's pitter patter against her window lull her back to sleep.

She didn't even notice her door closed quietly.

**~x~**

"So you were actually _friends_," she gave him an incredulous look, "with Napoleon Bonaparte?"

Even her words sounded so ridiculous to Elijah's ears, but he simply chose to stay out of this conversation. He was far and distant from his brother during the French Revolution, preferring a calmer and more suitable life in England. He was well-fed, and that was all that mattered to him.

When the humans went hungry, so did the vampires.

He knew that he wasn't cut out for the Parisian life during the revolutionary years, and it still astounds him that his brother was able to live off those people, those _revolutionaries._ But then again, his brother always enjoyed carnage and chaos.

"His wife, Josephine," he let the name roll off his tongue as a purr, "Was truly exquisite. Lovely, and very warm when it came to welcoming men to her bed. It's such a shame she chose a life of a sad love instead."

Hermione rolled her eyes, ashamed that she was even listening to this part of their conversation.

_Man-whore, _she thought, her face contorting into a look of disgust.

And it was if he knew what exactly crossed her mind, he slammed his bottle of gin down.

"French women were and still are fun to play with." Klaus snapped, sticking his nose into the air as if he were just some toddler.

"Still doesn't change the fact you were and probably still a loose man," Elijah quipped, downing his scotch, "Or..what's that term they use nowadays? Oh, right, gigolo."

"Oh do shut up, brother."

Go figures when one of the most dangerous creature was not only a killing machine but a large slut as well, even far as sleeping with the wife of one of the _greatest_ men in history. She scoffed at his words, sending him a dirty look or two before returning to packing her things.

Well, Napoleon and Klaus did have one thing in common that might have attracted dear and sweet Josephine.

_Their arrogance. _

She had bought a large amount of sun-block and tanning lotion that day.

They have decided they wanted to leave the mainland towards Southeast Asia, like the Philippines. Klaus wanted to get a tan, which made Hermione snort at the idea of a _vampire_ tanning. Though, she had always wanted to see the sunset in Manila Bay.

"They have beautiful beaches with white sandy shores and pretty waves," Elijah drawled.

She just shrugged, wanting to appear nonchalant.

All Hermione hoped was that they would both burn and die.

**~x~**

**_...June 1st..._  
**

The first time she saved him was in one of the regions in one of the western Visayan islands, a name that she couldn't get her tongue around due to that accent of hers.

She had found Klaus in near the local river behind a village, getting his arm gnawed off by a *_manananggal_, a creature that she vaguely remembers as a distant relative to Klaus's type of vampire, if she remembered correctly. It turned out he had accidentally fed on a woman who was in her first trimester, and he was ambushed by the dark creature, wanting to eat the woman's baby obviously. For an Original, he was quite idiotic for ignoring the _tik-tik_ sounds that could be heard off in the distance.

Drunk or not, she had expected more from somebody of his caliber.

Of course, Klaus was freaked out because only half of its body was hovering above him.

He said that it's been a long while since he has seen one of these creatures, and Hermione simply scoffed at him. It would have been easier to throw salt on it, he said, after she burnt the creature into a crisp with a simple flick of her wand. She simply told him that _she_ wasn't the type to carry condiments around on her person.

If he was so capable, he should have already killed it at the moment it starting snacking on his arm. Hermione should have let the creature gnaw his arm off, it wasn't like he wasn't going to heal quickly anyway, and she knew that the idiotic hybrid could take of himself despite his surprise.

She needed to remind herself that he was the _bad_ guy, like Voldemort, except more dangerous and, well, _immortal_ and close to being _indestructible. _

After compelling the dark-haired beauty to simply forget everything, Klaus plopped down on the ground, and Hermione wanted to curse at him because he even made _that_ look so graceful and dignified. Hermione glanced at his arm, seeing that it was already healed, but she knew better than that.

His ego was torn to shreds at the moment, but why did she care?

"Here," she offered him a large piece of chocolate, "It will make you feel better."

And before he even gave her crap about how the bloody_ hell _was that suppose to help him, Hermione gave him one of her infamous glares that screamed _'Just listen to me and do it already.'_ In the end, Klaus relented and grudgingly took the chocolate out of her hands and nibbled on it.

"Are you really the oldest ones out there?" She asked, sitting beside him.

He gave her a thoughtful look.

"Probably not, but the _oldest_ ones that are the most human-like and not a mindless feeder," he replied in a bored tone, still eating his chocolate.

She gave him a disbelieving look.

"_Hey_, at least _we_ don't eat babies."

"Right," Hermione said with a doubtful expression, but he simply shrugged as if he didn't mind that she didn't believe him. That was last thing she said before they slipped back into their usual silence, both too busy with their own thoughts to even strike up another conversation.

Hermione found out that he had a secret sweet tooth that night.

That was something she didn't want to know about at all.

**~x~**

**_...July 3rd..._  
**

After that night, Klaus started to treat her differently.

From somebody that was just a simple tool to him to perhaps someone _close_, not quite, to his level. He would enjoy their verbal spars, appreciating her quick witty tongue and snarky comments to keep him amused. Hermione became somewhat more relaxed around them, but not enough to let down her guard.

**Never that.**

They traveled to France, near the south despite the fact that Hermione wanted to stay in Paris and see the catacombs, but was politely vetoed by Elijah. Klaus simply stayed silent, brooding over something with the way he kept sighing like some heartbroken teen. She raised an eyebrow in question at his brother, who simply turned a blind eye and asked the flight attendant for a screw driver.

He promptly drank himself to oblivion during that one _long_ flight.

It seemed that the longer their trip was, the more Elijah kept drinking himself into a sea of alcoholic beverages, but Hermione kept telling herself that she didn't care if the Original drank himself to his own death.

The less the merrier, she said.

But she knew that didn't mean that, and that's what scared her.

She was actually fond of the vampire despite the fact he obsessed over his hair just a little bit _too_ much.

"What's wrong with your brother?" Hermione asked the older Original one afternoon.

Elijah paused in his futile search for his favorite pair of cuffs links, sighing before he looked over his shoulder to give her an exasperated expression. They both have watched the hybrid sigh and wallow in his little ocean of self-pity and loathing that he has created for himself, and to be quite honest, they were sick of picking up bottles and dead bodies after him.

They were all blonde, tall, with lithe figures, and it made Hermione wonder if she needed to add _serial_ killer on her list that she had created for the hybrid.

Hermione would watch him some days, doodle away in that stupid sketchbook of his, only to have him throw the book down in a childish manner before tearing the pages out and throwing them into the hungry mouths of the fire. She would only give him an annoyed look before returning to her own thoughts, staring off into the pretty flames that settled in the hearth in front of her. It wasn't like she didn't mind him ignoring her.

Elijah's voice brought her back from her own little world of logical thoughts and all.

"He promised to bring someone to Paris before," Elijah whispered as if scared to wake up his sibling, though, for what reason she didn't know why since his brother was passed out cold on the couch, "And my brother, bless his dead heart, is still in that ah-"

He paused as he struggled to find the right term to describe his younger sibling's situation.

"Achy-breaky heart phase." He finished lamely, though his handsome face serious as ever.

Hermione just simply shook her head, not wanting to bother to get her head around his train of thought. Did he really just use a _Billy Ray Cyrus_ song to describe his brother's weird behavior? She would think that after living a thousand years one would have the great ability to describe _any_ situation in an eloquent manner.

"Are you sober?" Hermione asked incredulously, scooting a couple steps away from him.

Elijah merely laughed at her before sauntering his way out of the presidential suite.

Originals were just so odd.

Hermione glanced over the still body of that damn man that took over her life, but she felt her maternal side swell up at the sight of him sprawled on the couch with his hands hugging his sides. Before she could even question her own actions, she placed a blanket over him, finding him a bit less intimidating and perhaps even a bit more charming.

It was probably because he wasn't hurling dagger threats or any other large objects around and about, going on and on about his _great_ was.

"For someone so old, you act like such a royal prat.: She chuckled, letting her fingers brush against his soft cheek. And for a moment, Hermione felt her heart soften at the sight of him leaning into her touch. Perhaps there was more to him than this first layer of a paranoid maniacal man.

"_Caroline._" Klaus mumbled, sighing in content at the soft touch.

And as if she was just doused in ice cold water, Hermione jumped back, both confused and somewhat afraid of what she has just done. Here she was traveling the world with two psychotic Originals, petting one of them as if they were some common household cat, and getting _hurt_ because he uttered another girl's name.

_What's wrong with her?_

"Car-_Hermione?_"

She couldn't even bring herself to look at him, and before he could even latch onto her hand, she scurried away to her own suite, burying herself in her sheets. If only Professor Snape could see her now, running with her tail between her legs and hiding beneath covers in order to avoid the outside world.

As if _that_ would stop a certain Original from barging in and ripping the damn blankets off of her, demanding answers from her that even she didn't know, but the angry footsteps never came nor did any of his arrogant comments from the other side of her door. Hermione didn't know why she felt the familiar ache of disappointment in her heart.

So she just ignores it, not bothering to even go out to dinner with them that night.

Some courageoud Gryffindor she was.

**~x~**

"Well, well, look who's out and about," Klaus drawled, amused at the way she glared at him, "Elijah and I haven't seen you in over three days, sweetheart. I was getting a bit worried. Good thing we could still hear your heart beating."

He gave her sultry smirk just to tease her, and he took pleasure at the sight of her reddening cheeks.

"Go to hell." Hermione ground out in a sickeningly sweet voice, pouring herself a shot of scotch before she gave into her nerves.

Gosh, when did she blush at the sight of his _smirking_ face? It should annoy her_; infuriate_ her like it did before, but now that's all shot down to hell ever since she touched his cheek. Perhaps he slipped something in her drinks prior to that day because in no way would the logical, _normal _Hermione blush because of him.

"I have reserved place there, sweetheart. Such spit-fire, aren't you?"

She promptly singed the tips of his eyebrows.

"Why yes I am, Klaus." Hermione gave him a smirk over her shoulder before retreating to who knows where.

It took him a week or two to grow his eyebrows back to normal.

**~x~**

**_...August 7th..._  
**

When they arrived to America, Klaus had told her that they weren't going straight to their actual destination just yet. He wanted to take a detour, he said, but somewhere deep down, Hermione knew that he was being a coward and trying to postpone their arrival, but she humored him. Elijah had simply left them after the flight, telling them he had business to take care of.

Hermione wished he would take her with him.

She didn't want to be alone with Klaus, much less in a car to _who knows where _for who knows **how long**.

The Original hybrid seemed chipper this morning with the way he swayed in his driver's seat, shades on, making him look like the total bad-ass he wanted to be, but that didn't impress Hermione much. She hated those eyes of his, especially when they lit up when he took pleasure at someone else's expense, she loathed that stupid smirk of his, and most of all, she detested the way he said her name.

The way he would say it so softly makes her want to sock him in the face.

Klaus didn't impress her at all.

She tried to ignore his presence in the car, watching the roads and trees pass by quickly as they continued to travel north. Hermione vaguely registered that the words from Frank Sinatra's _New York, New York_ was being played in the car, but it was the second voice caught her attention. Surely he wasn't going to annoy her _all_ the way to wherever their destination was?

With angry, brown eyes, she turned to yell at him, but her harsh words die at the tip of her tongue at the sight of him smiling and singing along. Begrudgingly, Hermione had to admit that he had a pleasant voice, but not as smooth as Frank's. _Never smooth as Frank's_. However, he looked a bit pretty with the way he basically gave her a show of his skills.

He turned to give her another one of _those _smirks that she despised so much.

The only thing she could say without making a complete and utter fool of herself was a snarky, "Shut up and drive, Klaus." He responded with that stupid_, stupid_ laugh of his, and he continued singing, louder than ever.

Hermione couldn't help but smile.

**~x~**

Klaus brought her to the Big Apple.

And it was safe to say that Hermione was _definitely_ impressed by this.

However, he slips back into that somewhat sad, somewhat angry mood of his, and she knew that he probably promised somebody else that he would show this city to them. _Another_ girl, but the fleeting emotion of jealousy was quickly washed away with a quick shot of vodka.

She didn't want to think about that girl Caroline right now.

It's not like she had to be jealous over anything since she detested this man.

"So what would you like to do, Hermi?" He asked casually, using the nickname he had picked up from their visit in the Philippines. Apparently a hermit crab reminded him of her and not only her _cranky_ attitude but her tendency to hide as well. She hated that nickname.

"I don't know," Hermione replied honestly, her eyes bright with wonder, "There's so much to do and so much to see."

He gives her an eye-side glance paired with a discreet smile.

"Do you like art?"

She rolls her eyes at him.

"Who doesn't like art?" She quipped, placing her belongings in her own room.

They were sharing a suite together, which pissed her off since she was looking forward to a night without _him_.

And he flashed her one of his infamous flirty grins.

"Even body paint?"

Hermione took her wand and promptly levitated him up and out of their window.

Klaus could survive the fall, and it would give her some hours to herself.

**~x~**

**_...August 15th..._  
**

During their stay in New York, Klaus had insisted on her using his card.

_I don't want something ugly beside me when she's casting a spell_, he said with a snooty tone.

Hermione took his words as a terrible _subtle_ way of him telling her that she looked atrocious, and in that blind fury, she bought everything that a girl like her could ever wanted. Books, clothes, shoes, everything materialistic and shallow thing that could ever have come into existence. The only thing that stopped her from running through his fortune was when the card was declined.

_Damn it_.

She felt good about herself when she strolled in their shared suite along with a long line of bell hoppers holding her bags. Hermione expected him to throw a loud temper tantrum, and even kill a few people, possibly her even, but all he did was look at her from his seat in the living room and gave her an approved smile.

It shocked her.

It also _infuriated _her.

What kind of game was this man playing?

And once the last person was out the door, she went for this throat with her raging questions. It was after her screaming and ranting for about five minutes did she stop for air, and from her even more atrocious hair to her splotchy red skin did he laugh. He laughed in her face as if it was all a joke and that she didn't spend about half of his fortune on useless things.

But no, he laughed because she was being silly.

"No, Hermi, I don't mind and besides, I've lived for a very long time. You hardly made a dent in _one_ of my fortunes. Now run along and leave me alone. _The Mentalist_ is on, and I do appreciate some Patrick Jane time,." Klaus shooed her off as if he was her mother and she was just a kid.

She gave him a seething look before stomping away like a petulant child.

Hermione gave half of the things she had bought to charity the next day.

**~x~**

**_...August 29th..._  
**

In all of the months she had spent with the hybrid, he never once snapped at her violently since she saved him during their trip to the Philippines. Yes, he said harsh words, the most insensitive things, and everything that would have crushed her self-worth if she were any other person, but he never _physically_ lashed out on her, well, to the point of where it actually marked her. He told her he was above that, saying it in a wistful manner, and it was if he was struggling to maintain that promise.

But today was different.

Hermione had just finished bathing and getting ready for dinner, and before she could even put on her shoes, he stormed into her bedroom with an intent to only _hurt_ and possibly kill anyone that was in his way. But fortunately, he couldn't kill her because he needed her too much in his plans.

The thought didn't comfort Hermione though.

"_What the blo-"_ her words were cut off as soon as her air was. He had her up against the wall by her delicate throat, nails digging painfully into her skin. Hermione imagined that trickles of blood were already appearing.

"_Why do you smell like that?"_ he snarled, his teeth bare and his eyes bright.

The strong and soothing scent of lavender invaded his senses, bringing back memories that he hopelessly tried to bury. Memories of those cornflower eyes, the crinkle of her smile, and that _heavenly_ scent that used to drive him wild, and he wanted to laugh at his pathetic state. He had given Caroline so much power over him to the point where the memories of her sweet smell made him want to rid of this woman's skin in order to have relief.

To rip of _Hermione's_ soft, golden skin.

Someone he thought who was _unworthy_ to wear her lovely scent.

She simply choked, desperate for air. Hermione's tiny hands grasped onto his arm, failing to pull his tightening grip away from her neck. It was dangerous, it was _terrifying_, and it was what Hermione needed to remember that Klaus was a _monster_.

He violently slammed her against the wall once more.

"_You have __**no right**_…No right! _To smell like her at all!"_

She released a whimper, aware of his breath near her neck.

Aware of his _bared fangs_ near her neck.

"No right….no right to smell like her….No right to be like her….You can never be my Caroline…" he whispered, sounding a bit broken and unsure.

Hermione clawed at his hand once more.

_Let go, Klaus_ she wanted say. _Please, Klaus_ she wanted to beg. _Fuck off, Klaus_ she wanted to shout.

But she couldn't because she** can't**.

"You can _never_ be Caroline…you have no right to **smell** like her," he repeated dully, lifting up his head to look into her lovely, amber eyes. And with a blink of an eye, he was already gone from her room, leaving her to gasp for air.

_Sweet merciful Merlin!_

Only the aching pain around her neck and his clean scent were the only proof that he had almost killed her. A reminder of what he truly is.

Hermione knew that Klaus wasn't a man. He was a monster, albeit, _a broken_ monster. Though, that didn't change the fact that he had almost choked her to death, and for that, Hermione was back to her first stage: retreating to her shell.

Klaus scared her.

After that, Hermione went back to her usual vanilla scent.

Because it was _safe._

"_**A wise old owl lived in an oak;  
The more he saw the less he spoke."**_

**-Edward Hersey Richards-**

* * *

**WHAT IS THAT?**

_*****__**Manananggal- In Filipino folklore, manananggal is a type of aswang (shape shifter, witch, a monster in general), and resembles the Western version of the vampire. Stories of this creature are very popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines. It can split is upper and lower halves, using the upper-half to fly, and makes tik-tik noises from afar despite the fact it is actually really close. It preys on pregnant women, and uses its tongue to feed off of the baby inside of the mother. It is said that is hates garlic and salt, and that if you see half of a body on the ground, throw salt on it first.**_

* * *

**AUTHOR's THOUGHTS:**

**Well, that took awhile for me to find a good end to part one. I am going to continue **_**The Sweetest Eyes**_**, but I don't know how long that will take. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this. I certainly enjoyed writing it all out, planning it while I'm just doing regular things in everyday life.**

**Anyways, do you have any thoughts you would like to say?**

**Then feel free to leave a review.**

**Thank you very much, and until next time!**

**-The Red Strings-**


	2. To Defy

**Hello my dear readers! Here is part two of _Without Fault_, and I will have to tell you, it was challenging. I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long, and again, this became...a bit long. Same length as the previous chapter, I think, oh well. I hope this won't be too much of a _blah_ for you all to read.  
**

**Hopefully you will all enjoy it.  
**

**Anyways, thank you for reading this story!  
**

**And thank you to all those who reviewed!  
**

**I appreciate it very much, and it helped me want to finish this even sooner!  
**

**Now on to the story along with a few warnings ahead:  
**

**Warning(s): Sexual Abuse (nothing explicit), death, and impolite language.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either series, _Harry Potter _and _The Vampire Diaries._  
**

* * *

**.:Part Two:.  
To Defy**

**_...September 2nd, New York City..._**

It was the fickle of her, the way she would be swooned by his advances and then be repulsed by him in the next moment. Perhaps that was made him stay and long for her, and if it was, then he was such a fool for doing so. She was one woman he could not have, and he wanted her so desperately but for what purpose?

She served no purpose except to be his weakness, and yet he doesn't feel like she would be.

If only Caroline would let him in.

"How fickle a woman's heart could be." Klaus whispered to no one but himself.

Here he was once more, alone in his makeshift art studio in this suite of his, drinking his thoughts away with anything and everything that he could get hands on. He had already burned his whole sketchbook of her along with the secret silly poetry he had planned to give her, but he became a coward and never did.

He closed his eyes, thoughts still circulating around those pretty blue eyes that he had come to love so much, and he could even smell her soft lavender scent. He didn't want anyone to tarnish her scent with their own, no; he needed his memories of her and that sweet smile to be untouched and perfect.

Klaus wanted her image to be immortalized in his mind.

Not ruined by some common woman with wild, nymph-like hair who made more horrible comments about him than Kol and the Salvatore brothers combined every day. Her potty mouth and scars did not interest him; in fact, it disgusted him at times with the way she just ran her mouth off.

She almost destroyed Caroline's scent by wearing it that night to dinner, and now she is back to wearing her usual overly-sweet vanilla scent.

It fitted her better than wearing another woman's image.

Hermione didn't sit well with him knowing that she would be in someone else's shadow. He inhaled his drink, letting it burn pleasantly in the back of his throat. All the thoughts of both women were washed away with the tequila, replacing it with a soft buzz and somehow that buzz kept growing louder and louder by the second.

Glassy blue eyes snapped opened, realizing that it wasn't the alcohol and his head _buzzing_.

_Damn phone._

"What the hell do you want?" He snapped as soon as he pressed the green button.

"So I've heard that you've been abusing our little pet," Elijah's voice drawled on the side of the phone, his tone somewhat accusing.

"There is no in _our_ when it comes to her, Elijah," he hissed, "She is mine and mine alone."

He could hear Kol's idiotic laughter in the background, and he knew that he had just made a big fool of himself in front of his family. He could imagine Rebekah displeased expression, pursed lips and all, reminding him of a puffer fish at times. Elijah simply snorted, half-aggravated and half-amused by his words.

"Bring her home in one piece, brother, I do get bored at times with this little town, and I've always wanted a pet as a child." Obviously Kol had stolen the phone right out of his brother's hand in order to make demands of his hybrid brother in that annoying tone of his.

"Shut up," Klaus snapped, sounding like a spoiled brat.

"Now, brother, sharing is caring, they sa-"

"And I personally don't care for you; therefore, I don't need to share." Klaus snapped his phone shut, his face painted with an irritated expression. Even the sun that was breaking over the horizon couldn't ease his annoyance now, a sad waste of a morning he would say when he had a perfect view of the new day from his suite's balcony.

The way the morning skies bled pink and orange into the usual blue hues and the city's forever flicking lights was always a favorite sight of his, and here he was letting one woman and his brother's words ruining it for him. _A witch_, he reminds himself silently as he continued to sip on his wine. It was never too early to enjoy a glass along with some more shots and whatnot.

Besides, he needed to calm down his nerves when he sees Hermione again.

The glass shattered in his tightening grip.

_No_, he doesn't need any calming to his nerves at all! He doesn't need to feel nervous around a woman like her, a plain _human_ like her. She wasn't blonde, her hair was too wild, her eyes were too dark, she was too petite, and she was too snarky for her own damn good. It was even a miracle that he hadn't ripped her head off yet.

"Buggering hell."

**~x~**

**_...September 4th..._**

"Hello Nora," she greeted eagle owl with a smile, knowing that Harry had finally sent her a letter through his dear messenger. It was a good thing that Ginny had bought the owl for him because he would never bring himself to buy another one after Hedwig, his first pet as well as gift from anyone really.

It was a bit grand for Harry's usual taste since Nora was a rather large owl with inquisitive eyes. She was intelligent as well, if a bit temperamental, which was probably Ginny's influence and Hermione had an idea on what Harry's future child would be like. Nora hooted, softly pecked her fingers, demanding her payment in bacon.

"Oh, you," Hermione rolled her eyes, feeling the heavy owl perch on her outstretched hand, "Don't cause too much trouble now, or Niklaus will have you for a little afternoon snack."

Nora blinked at her, as if to say '_Quite frankly, dear, I don't care.__'_

"Here you go, you can rest here," she whispers, placing the bird a birdcage that she had just transfigured. Nora would need rest if she were to carry back the letter with her, and for some odd reason, Hermione was lonely and looking for company, even if it was from a bird.

"Well, let's see what Harry has to say," she mumbles, tearing into her envelope to read her message. And it was as if a dam had just broken, she felt the waves of homesickness and loneliness wash over her. Her vision became blurry with unshed tears at the sight of her friend's usual illegible scrawl.

Harry always had horrible handwriting.

_Hermione,_

_It's been a few months now, well, three really if you want to be exact, and we already miss you terribly. Teddy keeps crying for you, and Ginny has been angry with me lately, which is probably because I didn't stop you from leaving. She doesn't understand through her hormonal haze, obviously, but she is upset so don't be surprised when you receive a howler sometime soon. We found out that we are going to have a son, and we want you to be his godmother. I don't know when you will be back, but hopefully soon enough so you can be part of his life. It will mean so much to us and even more to his when he grows up. I wonder where you are right now. Are you in Rome? Or are you in Russia? Or are you in the deep jungles of the Amazon? Are you happy? Hopefully you are because that is very important to us all. You haven't been happy in so long, so don't forget us in your pursuit of happiness. Write back, okay? And write a little letter to Ginny, too, she misses you. And send Teddy a picture, too. He needs your love._

_We miss you.  
_

_Please be safe. _

_With lots of love,  
Harry._

A tear had smudged the inked words a bit.

"I'm going to have a godson, and I'm not going to be there when he comes into this world." She whispered, dropping the letter onto the marble floors to cradle her head in between her shaking hands.

She never realized it would be so hard to abandon a life that even she thought to be cold and empty. Hermione finally knew what Sirius felt when he had missed all of those precious years that he could have spent with Harry if it had not been for his imprisonment. This aching in her heart of knowing she will never be able to hold that child in her arms, to coo his name a thousand times a day, this ache was becoming unbearable.

It was this ever-certain loneliness that made her realize that what she had though before to be emptiness was only a joke compared to what her life will become, of what her life really _is_. There was a gaping hole in her being that was suddenly making itself known, different the isolation she felt before. It was as if the edges were slowly burning away, eating what was left.

Ah, so this was what it felt to be truly isolated.

Was she a fool to take everything for granted?

When did happiness escape her?

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

It was her heart beating, telling her to continue on.

Oh, Hermione thought sadly, pressing her hand against her chest to feel her heart's rhythm.

She had to go on.

She blinked her tears away, realizing that this hole will continue to grow, with or without these tears. This situation could not be solved, and perhaps it never will be. Crying wouldn't get her anywhere, only her own pond of salty water. Quickly brushing the remnants of her sadness away, she released a few calming breaths, trying to make the ache in her heart a bit more bearable.

This conflict between her old and new life will always be a consistent reminder.

These feelings of sadness and longing will come and go.

She desperately needed them to remind her that Klaus was every bit of a monster that he truly was.

**~x~**

He had ignored the owl that had stopped to the upper room's balcony of his suite, knowing that this was the only way she could connect with the people she cared about from her old life. He had ignored the gentle smell of vanilla that invaded his senses every time he passed by her room to get to his drawing area.

He even ignored the stupid smell of that owl and the faint smell of salt, which probably only meant one thing and one thing only: she was crying. Klaus didn't know what to think of that nor did he want to feel any sort of remorse for her tears, and yet he couldn't help but to feel _slightly_ bothered by it. In the short few months she has traveled with him and his brother, never once did she shed a tear in front of them.

Or even a close range near them.

It was unsettling to him to know that a strong woman such as Hermione would be crying.

"Hermione," he knocked on her door, wanting to kick himself for not even second-guessing his actions, "You are testing my patience, witch."

There, that was much better, he thought, letting his voice go from soft and concerned to impatient and annoyed.

For a few seconds, he didn't hear anything behind her door, well, except the rapid beating of her heart. He liked to think that she was terrified of him rather than just pissed off, and Klaus knew that if she were to erupt in front of him, well, then this suite of their would be completely destroyed in their little spat. He toyed with the idea of just knocking down her door or even leaving her alone in her to enjoy her pity party, and before he could even decide what to do, the door opened.

All he saw was that horrible crazy hair of hers and her eye peering through the small crack.

Klaus kept his face as neutral as possible, especially at the sight of her slightly red and swollen eye. He wondered how long she was crying before he even walked by her door, but he quickly banished the thought from his head as quickly as it had appeared. With an annoyed sigh, he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What do you want, Mikaelson?" She spat, trying to look intimidating but only came out to him as more like a peeved cat.

"What the hell is your problem, Granger? I bring you to New York, let you spend my money to the point that card was declined, and here you are-" he motioned with his hand to her annoyed and rumpled state, "Being pissy and aggravating."

Again, he didn't expect the door to suddenly slam wide open, revealing an angry witch wearing an atrocious orange sweatshirt and itty bitty grey shorts. _Chudley Cannons_, it said boldly across her chest, and for some odd reason, he felt awkward for even reading the words. He turned his head before she could go and accuse him of being a pervert.

Klaus even saw the ugly yellow-blue bruises around her neck, and he forced the feelings of remorse out of his chest as quickly as he could. He knew that she would be able to heal her own bruises and perhaps she thought by showing him and the world of what he had done to her then he would feel guilt. Hermione wanted him to feel the guilt of being a damn monster.

"_What the hell is_ **_my_**_ problem?_ _My problem is that you almost killed me a few days ago!"_ Her voice raised an octave with every couple of words, her eyes bright with angry tears.

Klaus gave her an almost bored expression which only fed her rage.

"Sod off, you prat! You need to sort out your issues with this _Caroline_," she sneered, "And quit taking your feelings of unresolved sexual frustration on others! Actually, I'm glad she even broke that shriveled up heart of yours! She did a fan-fucking-tastic job of doing that!"

Klaus held his breath, counting to ten as his brother advised him to do once, trying to make sure that his anger would roll off of him rather than erupting in front of her. He didn't want to have another hole in the suite's walls; it was rather tiresome to keep compelling the staff members to forget about it.

"Hermione," he breathed, his nostrils flaring, "Go pack your _fucking _bags now. We are leaving tomorrow."

She opened her mouth to retort but the menacing look he gave her was enough to stop her snarky comments to slip through.

"Or should I just compel you?" He threatened, his lips pulled into a rather nasty scowl.

"Bite." She stomped his foot, enjoying the small amount of pain that flashed across his face. "My." She quickly grabbed a few vervain flowers from a nearby pot. "Arse." And she shoved the plant into her mouth before slamming the door on his face with a self-satisfied smirk.

His jaws clenched, knowing that if he were to rip the door off its hinges, Hermione wouldn't hesitate jinxing him with one of her ridiculous spells. So he weighed his options, to bust down the door or no? He would reassert himself and put her back in her place, but the other hand, she would just levitate him out the window again.

"I'm packing, Mikaelson, so stop standing outside my door. I'm not running away." He could hear her muffled words through the door, but with his heightened hearing, it sounded so clear and strangely loud. Klaus knew that she wasn't packing; he didn't hear the soft ruffle of clothes being packed or any of her stuff being thrown around in anger.

No, he knew she was sitting on the floor on the other side of this door, sad and alone.

He didn't like the smell of the bitter note in the air.

**~x~**

The anger Hermione felt towards him did not dissipate as he expected it her to, but then again, he keeps forgetting that this woman didn't have a forgiving soul as much as _her_. Instead, hour by hour, she grew more anxious and snappier, and after the third hour and simply asking her a question he simply gave up.

Why did females always feel the need to yell when someone just wanted to know if they were _hungry?_

But no matter, if she was going to act like a stubborn brat, he will let her go hungry during this drive. Klaus would not let her win, and he will ignore the soft rumblings of her stomach. All she needed to do was ask him _nicely_, and he would gladly stop by one of these stupid American fast-food joints.

He let this foolish game go on for an hour or so until her empty stomach made itself obviously known with a deep and loud growl. Klaus lips quirked into a small smirk at her reddening cheeks, and he even found her stubborn streak quite adorable. It reminded him a little bit of his sister when she was crossed with him.

Klaus stopped by a McDonalds, no longer waiting for Hermione to ask him for food.

He could not help himself, especially since Hermione was _technically_ his pet.

Plus, he knew it would annoy the hell out of her.

**~x~**

They stopped in the middle of the country side at a nameless and forgettable gas station, and it was already deep into the night here. Hermione did not speak to him, though, she was more wary than furious now. It was bound to happen anyway. So when he went inside of the nameless gas station to find some snacks, she stayed outside, leaning against his ridiculously priced Audi coupe with her arms crossed.

She found that she liked to breathe the fresh air here, it was much better than the city, and somehow, it just reminded her a bit of home. This time Hermione didn't cry nor did she feel the unbearable swelling sadness, instead she just…felt nothing.

Hermione enjoyed moments like these, well, moments without a certain Original hovering around her all the time. She was just about fed up with his ability to be needy, angry, apologetic, and perhaps even a bit delightful to be around in only a matter of a few minutes. It was exhausting to keep up with his mood swings.

So she allowed herself to enjoy the stars and the moon.

Well, Hermione did until she heard a child screaming deep in the field somewhere.

With her old habits resurfacing, she retrieved her wand from her boot and without a second thought, she sprinted across the dirt road into the large field ahead of her. It was surprisingly difficult to find the child in this field of sunflowers, but it did not deter her from trying to find him. It was that idiotic hero-complex inside of her that made her do this, though, she couldn't bring herself to really care.

It must be mixed in with the idiotic Gryffindor pride as well.

And then Hermione heard it.

The sounds of chuckling mixed in with the cries of a_….woman?_ Hermione suddenly felt the fear of being alone out here, but she instantly squashed it as she gripped her wand even tighter. She walked towards the sounds, and for a moment, she wondered why she was even out here.

To be the bloody hero, of course.

With a shuddered sigh, she shoved the sunflowers to the side, wand already at striking-point. Her heart pummeled against her chest, and she quickly knew that she was not ready to see what was in front of her. Hermione felt the sudden irrational rage swell inside her, and she knew that they were looking at her as if she was another treat for them.

She shook with fury.

They smirked and chuckled, ignoring the pained noises of the woman underneath them, and one of them climbed off of her, ready to approach Hermione with his pants already undone. Rage coursed through her veins, and she knew that there wasn't anything else she could witch did not blink nor did she even second-guess her actions when she slashed him with an almost quiet _Sectumsempra._

He didn't even scream.

She did not dwell on her actions when she burned another one alive.

She did not feel guilty when she levitated a stick and with a quick flick of her wand, it flew across at an alarming rate, piercing the other in the throat.

Hermione certainly did not cry when she flicked her wand once more, sending the last man across the dirt, freeing the woman from his grasp, and without even questioning her own cruelty, she drowned the him a continuous and simple _Aquamenti _charm.

Hermione knew that there were other ways to kill and torture without the use of Dark magic.

This is what the war taught her.

It wasn't the spells that made you evil, no, it was the _intention_ behind that entire wand flicking and swishing.

"Where is the child?" She asked softly, kneeling beside the curled up woman, brushing the dirt off of her face with a gentle hand.

She reminded Hermione of Luna with her wispy blonde hair and misty blue eyes. She flinched at her touch, but she did not cry. Hermione thought of her as a foolish brave woman if it weren't the fact she was fighting her tears back. Hermione could feel her shaking body, and for a moment, she wondered if it was best to make her forget.

Her doe eyes blinked, and with a shaky finger, she pointed to the crumpled body of what seemed like her son or perhaps a younger brother. Hermione felt her rage rekindle, wishing that she had more time to make those sick men suffer. Suddenly, Hermione decided that she no longer liked the country side air anymore.

It was filled with the stench of burnt flesh and the coppery scent of spilled blood.

The pain in her heart was becoming unbearable.

The little boy wasn't much older than Teddy.

"_He's dead."_ And it was as if a dam had suddenly crumbled, the woman cried into the palm of her hands. Hermione cried as well, hugging her and trying to shield her from this pain and this loss. She sometimes forgot that people were also capable of evil and barbarity.

Hermione sometimes forget that _humans_ can be monsters, too.

And at times, she forgets that she, too, was also capable of such cruelty.

**~x~**

**_...Mystic Falls, Virginia..._**

When they finally arrived to Mystic Falls, he allowed her to scurry to her room. He knew about the incident back in the field, but he did not question her. Klaus smelled death and tears cling to her, and he was thankful that it only took an hour or so to arrive home. His family was out, no doubt wrecking havoc among the locals, and he was glad that he did not have to explain what had happened that night to them.

Hermione wouldn't want him to.

Klaus walked into her room, and if it were any other night, she would have hexed him into oblivion for intruding her personal space and privacy. Though, tonight, he had a strong feeling that she was in the great need of company.

Or perhaps it was just him wanting to comfort her.

He did not see her, but he could hear and smell her fear and sadness. With each heavy step, he walked towards her messy bed, wondering why she was hiding. Did she not know that no harm will come to her while she is in his hands? Or was she afraid of him?

_Of course she's afraid of him_.

Though, it seems there are other things that she feared more than him.

And tonight it seems like she was afraid of herself.

He peeked underneath her bed, not surprised to see large honey-colored eyes staring back at him. Though, it was her tears and that small beacon of hope in those expressive eyes of hers that surprised him. She trembled as her shaking hand reached for him; it was as if she was begging him to bring her back from her darkness.

Did she not understand that he was nothing but a loathsome creature?

But Klaus did not deny her.

Not when she showed him her vulnerable side.

He allowed himself to wrap his fingers around her dainty hand, feeling the warmth radiating beneath her delicate skin. He allowed himself to stare back at her with a type of fascination that was neither from admiration or sympathy. It was from something different, something foreign and it ached.

It was neither pleasant nor painful.

It was just an ache that was there.

Hermione laced their fingers together, not feeling ashamed for her need for his company. Sometimes she needed to make due when she was alone in this nightmare, this demon that would resurface from within her once in awhile. She did not move from her spot, and he didn't make her.

They just laid there in silence, neither thinking nor feeling.

Why would they?

They were there already, deep in their own bitterness and loneliness.

They just shared it with each other.

**~x~**

**_...September 15th..._**

"I don't know what to think of her." Rebekah told Klaus one day after school. She was still dallying around with the older Salvatore brother, seeking thrills and what not, and not to mention, she got a kick from annoying the doppelganger. But that day she simply stayed home, attempting to cook something in the kitchen without burning down the whole estate.

Klaus gave her a soft hum, his eyes skimming the page in front of him.

"You mean our pet, Hermione?" He said with a half-amused smirk.

"She's too smart for her own good." She told him with an air of snobbery surrounding her. The blonde vampire was having trouble cutting the chicken, trying to not cut _through_ the cutting board and perhaps the counter as well.

"Sister, you are just jealous that someone is better than you at something." Klaus chuckled, flipping to the next page.

Rebekah threw him a dirty look.

"Why would I be jealous of that gangly thing and her atrocious hair?"

"I find her hair quite unique."

"Your standards keep getting lower, and it's sort of sad, Klaus. Tatia, Caroline, and now a witch," she sighed, shaking her head, "Next thing I know, you will be panting after what? A _bloody_ faerie."

"Oh quit your whining, I have not fallen for the girl and faeries are tiny little things, Rebekah," his words accompanied with an eye-roll, "She isn't my kind of beauty, and you know that. So give it a rest."

"I will when you realize you give her too much freedom in this household. She even defies you, doesn't that bother you, Nik?"

He simply gave her an amused grin.

"It makes her more amusing to keep, dear sister," he replied, his smirk widening at her look of disapproval, "You never had a pet before so you wouldn't know."

" Well, that's because you or Kol would always eat it. Plus, that's not a good excuse for her insolence, brother."

Klaus gave her an exasperated look. He knew that his sister has been watching over him ever since he had gotten back from his little 'business' trip, and he also knew that she was making the local baby vampire's life a living hell. At times, he simply wanted to tell her to stop her childish behavior but others times, well, he enjoyed knowing that Caroline was suffering a _teensy _bit.

"She is nothing but a pet and a tool for our survival."

"And how is she going to help us," Rebekah spat, scowling, "with our _survival?_"

He smirked.

"Our little pet has the power to blow that baby nature servant, Bennett, out of the water."

Rebekah let out an unlady-like snort, flipping her hair with her clean hand over her shoulder.

"Not if she is out in the rain all the time. She's human, Nik, and she can get sick, and heaven _forbid_," she sneered, "die on us!"

Klaus scoffed at her words.

"And I care why, well besides her being alive and all?"

"Surely you care enough that Kol's around her all the time, don't you?"

The Original vampire couldn't help but laugh at her brother's retreating back, no doubt fuming at the fact that their little brother was making moves on their pet. She may find Hermione's hair atrocious and her beauty was that of the quiet sort, but she did enjoy the few tantrums her older brother would throw when it came to the witch.

It was like seeing the human in him again, though, on a much childish and funnier level.

**~x~**

**_...September 25th..._**

Ever since they had arrived in Mystic Falls, Hermione has faced several situations where she held conflicting emotions. Being around a family of a bunch of thousand-year old vampires presented her with new experiences and taught her the value of _patience_. She even learned to read Klaus's mood shifts before it actually happened so she could flee.

Though, it was safe to say it was rather difficult to keep up with his moods swings, especially when he could be murderous one second and overly-charming in the next. The curly-haired witch did not know how to handle herself sometimes, and she used what Professor Snape used when he was faced with undesirable situations: a snarky attitude.

It was rather helpful, actually, as it not only amused the vampires but kept her safe from their nasty tempers. She was a commodity to them, a toy for them to play for pass the time and to avoid boredom. Apparently, she became a favorite of Kol's, especially in his grand schemes to annoy his brother.

Hermione tried to remind herself everyday that these people were _not_ good people.

But her heart kept telling her different, especially when those dimples appeared on that idiot's handsome face. She would always squashed down these fluttering sensations in her heart, desperately hoping that none of them would hear her fast heartbeat whenever their hybrid brother flirted with her.

Hermione kept telling herself that she was only a toy to him.

She wasn't even second best to the woman he actually loved.

So why couldn't she help but to feel jealous whenever she would catch him doodling a picture of the pretty blonde by the fireplace, and why couldn't she stop the green monster from sprouting another head whenever he became upset because of her?

It was terrible of her to even feel this way.

She needed to find someone else.

"So our lovely little pet, since you have not contributed to this conversation of perfect mates, what is your ideal man?" Kol's amused voice tugged Hermione back to reality.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she knew that she had to amuse him and his sister.

It was the only thing that would keep them from fighting and destroying the house nowadays.

"Curly hair," Hermione stated, making them both quirk a questioning eyebrow, "And eyes that just stand out. He has to leave me speechless every time he looks at me, especially with a fantastic smile that could just blind anyone."

She paused, unsure if she wanted to continue.

"A-and he has to accept me for who I am, witchy and all. He can't be afraid of anything because there are too many horrifying things out there," she glared at the snorting brunet, "And he has to be intelligent, charming, and patient. Oh! And doesn't mind to clean once in awhile. And he has to love Halloween."

"Good grief, no man like that exists," Kol joked, only to be shushed by his sister, who sat next to him with this odd fascinated expression on her flawless face.

"Go on," Rebekah said, encouraging the honey-eyed witch with a hand gesture that was akin to that of a princess's.

"A-and….And….He has to be kind," Hermione finishes lamely, biting the bottom of her lip as she waited for them to just laugh at her. They always did, finding not only her but her whole world and life entertaining. They even stole Klaus's reading collection of the Wizarding world in order to get some sense of what her life was like.

But they didn't think of her as a foolish hopeful girl nor did they laugh at her.

"That's nice."

Rebekah simply smiled at her.

**~x~**

**_...October 10th..._**

They tried cornering her once when she was out by herself in this small, quaint town, and _they_ being the Justice League of young vampires, an untrained witch, and a muggle girl. Hermione wasn't intimidated by them, not even the ridiculous and sarcastic Salvatore brother, Damon. Though, she was surprised to learn that _Caroline_ was the epitome of the American dream girl, perfectly blonde with long legs, and was also a_ baby_ vampire.

No wonder Klaus liked her so much, he liked them young.

She was simply sitting down in one of the diners that seemed to be oh-so-popular among the locals when they all decided to surround her. Hermione only had enough time to order and get her food before they surrounded her. It reminded her of hungry puppies, the way they looked at her.

_Vicious puppies._

"So," the older Salvatore brother drawled, stealing a chip off her plate, "what's a pretty thing like you doing business with Klaus?"

Hermione wanted to just set him on _fire_ for poking fun at her looks. She knew she wasn't tall, leggy, and possessed movie-star hair, but she didn't think of herself as horrible to look at. It wasn't her damn fault that there was something wrong with this town's water, making all these people beautifully-enhanced. These people didn't even seem their age.

"None of your business." She quipped, her face stoic.

"You do know that you are working for like, the one of the most horrible villain ever, right?"

Dark, intelligent eyes rested on the seething baby vampire, and with a small smirk on her lips, she leaned forward. Her gaze then jumped quickly, meeting every set of eyes there, wanting to make sure to have some sort of _impression_ on these people.

"Caroline," Hermione in a manner very much like Malfoy's, "Business is business. And besides, everyone is capable for evil. Like Damon over here, with his abuse and all. You and your shallow thoughts and resenting your sweet best friend, Elena, and let's not forget Bonnie here. She hates you all deep down, but she fights it because she thinks you are still there."

Hermione points to the blonde's heart.

"You all are evil, too, in your own ways." She stated, flicking another cold chip in Damon's lap. Hermione was bored of out her mind, and it seemed that after spending some time with Draco at work back at home and spending her days with the Original hybrid, she became so_ aloof_. Or at least, she wanted to appear that way in front of these strangers.

With a tired sigh, she stood up from her seat, throwing a few bills onto the table. These people were silly if they think they can scare her into going on their side. She swore her loyalty to a monster yes, but it was a monster that saved a very important person in her life. So it made this whole situation a slightly better.

"Oh, and Bonnie," Hermione stopped to look over her shoulder, "Try and mess with my head again, I will mess up your mind so bad that you won't even know who you are anymore. All of your minds are very open to read so I will be careful what you are thinking around people like me."

And with a satisfied smile, she left them all stunned.

She hoped she had done Draco justice with her snobby act.

**~x~**

**_...October 12th..._**

If Hermione were honest with herself, and she rarely was, she would have admitted that she had missed the older Original and his odd words coupled with that serious face of his. Out of the Original family, she liked him the best due to the fact he was the most level-headed unlike his moody, bi-polar, crazy siblings.

Though, he still had that same dangerous air surrounded him.

He was just better at being a social butterfly.

"So I've heard about your little run in with the Salvatores and the doppelganger," he drawled, spinning his wine in his glass in a lazy manner, giving her a few amused glances, "And your little mind trick on them."

Elijah did not question her and for that, she was grateful.

She already felt bad enough that she had used Legilimency on them, people that she _hardly_ knew.

Here they were sitting across from one another, sipping on fine wine next to the sizzling flames of the hearth. The others were gone, no doubt threatening and breaking few things of the Salvatores, and it left them alone to their quite conversations. It was these kinds of nights that painfully reminded Hermione of her time with Harry.

"They are quite cocky, especially that American witch of theirs," Hermione's expression turns into a childish sour look, "She doesn't understand that she is killing herself with that amount of raw magic. Her magic is different from mine, I know my limits. She needs to know hers. Raw magic can kill anyone."

Elijah gave her a thoughtful hum.

"Some people do not know their limits."

"Like your brother."

He gave her one of those charming smiles, and oddly enough, it was similar to Fred's with the way it was mischievously alluring. If she were a lesser woman, she would have probably fall a bit in love with him at that moment, but no, all she felt was a strong sense of nostalgia.

"Yes, like my brother."

"He is too ambitious, and one day it will destroy him."

"Why do you say that?"

Hermione gave him a hopeless smile.

"Because all great and terrible ambitious men like him die a horrible death. None were honorable."

**~x~**

**_...October 18th..._**

As the days passed, it was easy to forget that she was serving one of the most dangerous families in history and that she was just a simple tool in their little games. Hermione even forgot how scared and angry she was with the hybrid brother, but she never let herself forget his moody nature.

It was days like these that reminded her of that fact.

Here he was ranting and raging, throwing the furniture over all because of that _baby_ vampire who no doubt rejected his advances and insulted him and his family _again_.

"I don't see why you fell for the typical American girl who's about deep as kiddy pool. Hell, maybe even a standard size bath tub!" Hermione said sarcastically, flipping through one of their _old_ rare copies of _The Courtier_.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He raged, throwing a chair over her.

She gave him a bland look, obviously unimpressed by his attempts in scaring her. Hermione has seen him at a worse and angrier state, and he actually had _threats_ to go along with his harassment. No, this childish Klaus and his idiotic throwing around things were getting tiresome and it was annoying the crap out of her.

"Klaus, do you not realize that this _child_," Hermione rolled her eyes, "will want and only want a boy at this moment in her newly dead life? She is a small-town girl who only knows the familiar things of her small-town life. Give her a decade or two, and then she will be running back to you, begging you to have vampire sex or whatever you bags of dead bones do these days."

Of course, Klaus being mature and all throws _another_ chair over her head.

"_Like **you** should be talking,_ Granger! You are the same as her, just six years older, but when it all comes down to it, you are both the _same_. You only know this _small-_town life that you have, so watch your tongue, witch.: He snapped, throwing a desk out of the window.

Elijah would reprimand him later for that.

Hermione stood up, fuming as she threw the book at his face. With red cheeks, she stomped towards him in her haze of fury, obviously wanting to at least hurt him in some way, be it through his _heart_ or that dusty old thing between his legs. She opted for the second choice.

She kneed him right in the kisser.

And she loved the way he keeled over with his arms around his stomach, obviously both pained and breathless. Hermione was satisfied with herself when he saw his face redden as he fought back the urge to vomit on the expensive Persian rug, and she knew that Ron would probably be proud of her.

"_Correction_: I only knew the life that you stole from me."

They didn't speak to each other for the next three days after that.

She didn't like being compared to other girls, not with Ron and not certainly with some idiotic, infatuated hybrid.

**~x~**

**_...October 30th..._**

Klaus at was his end's wits!

His memories of Caroline's smile and soft laughter were beginning to deteriorate despite the fact they lived in the same town, and he longer seeked out her presence like before, knowing exactly where her loyalty lies. Instead, the lavender scent he had always loved was quickly replaced by the gentle smell of vanilla. Klaus no longer imagined running his fingers through soft waves of spun gold instead he imagined his fingers running through wild curls.

He found himself drawing a woman with unbridled sensuality rather than a woman of innocence and light on one boring afternoon, enjoying the silence that his home had to offer. Everyone was gone that day, which left him to have a little personal time that resulted in a little _exploring_ of his own state of mind.

Klaus found himself slowly focusing on his pet, witch, and perhaps sometimes friend, Hermione.

He didn't know why. She was vengeful, bitter, and snarky when she was around him, and not to mention she was fond of pulling pranks that involved changing his hair color and the size of his nose. Though, when Hermione was with his sister or even, Heavens forbid, _Kol_, she was always joking, smiling, and actually _nice_. It baffled him really with this goody-two shoes side of her that would surface, and he wondered where he went wrong.

From the beginning apparently, according to his annoying younger brother.

There were days where he would spend several hours thinking about her, remembering the past few months with her. She was certainly not filled with light nor was she naïve with the way she viewed the world, so it was safe to say she was jaded, though, not quite like him. Hermione feared him, something he couldn't wrap his mind around when she acted so _fearless_ around him with the way she verbally sparred with him.

Not to mention she was getting a bit a sarcastic mouth around him, and she never hesitated to do some nasty magic on him when his language got a bit too coarse.

Klaus wanted to get to know Hermione, but as Kol has stated before, all of his chances were shot down in hell even before he whisked the curly-haired witch away from her former life. However, Elijah gave him actual advice that was so _simple_ that it made it so damn _difficult _for him to do much to his siblings' amusement.

_Why not be a little nicer_, Elijah told him with a small smile, _it wouldn't kill you._

It might as well kill him!

Rebekah has already called him every synonym to _idiot_ since he apparently has a thing for _mean_ women.

Showing kindness to the fairer sex almost killed him last time, but with the way his older brother silently challenged him with that damn raised eyebrow of his, he grudgingly agreed to take his advice. It took awhile to become _slightly_ less grumpy and sarcastic around the witch, and Kol would always chuckle at his feeble attempts to compliment Hermione's hair.

She would simply give him an odd look as if he had grown a second before nodding slowly, unsure of his intentions.

"Hey Hermione," Klaus looked a bit uncertain with the way he stood in front of her, staring at anything and everything except her, "You look…nice today."

"Ah, thanks, I guess," she gave him another '_Are you nutters?'_ look, "You look…normal today."

Klaus felt a bit silly for feeling a bit happier after hearing her words.

At least she didn't say he looked like a monster today like most days.

**~x~**

**_...November 5th..._**

"Is it just me or has Hermione been going out a bit too much lately?"

Both Kol and Rebekah tensed at his question, but luckily enough, he was distracted with drawing who knows what in that damn sketchbook of his.

"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You know, Nik, maybe our pet likes to you know be _away_ from you," Kol said teasingly, smirking at the way his brother sent him one of his _dagger -threat_ glares. He simply shrugged him off, flipping through the channels once more.

Saturday TV was nothing but a load of trash.

"Shut up, Kol!" Rebekah snapped, punching him in the shoulder with a loud 'thud.'

Klaus gave them a suspicious look.

"Are you two hiding something from me?"

They shared a guilty-look but kept their mouths shut, and it was as if they made a secret pact that concerned Hermione without him. Klaus didn't really appreciate being out of the loop of anything especially when it concerned something of _his_. Eyes narrowed at the way his siblings shared another knowing look.

"Nothing of great importance," Rebekah said with a shrug, turning her attention to the flickering channels on their television screen.

"I will find out," Klaus growled obviously annoyed, "You better hope that this _secret_ of yours doesn't affect my plans."

They both watched him stalk out of the room in with grumpy haste, half-amused and half-worried because of his idle threats. The blonde vampire glanced at her brother with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning him on what they should do. Kol simply shrugged, he didn't have a clue.

"For your sake, you better hope he doesn't find out what you did, little sister."

"You will be in trouble as I will be in, Kol, so if you don't shut your mouth, the next thing that will come out of it will be your _teeth_." Rebekah threatened, slapping her brother upside of his head.

"At least we are having fun."

**~x~**

**_...November 10th..._**

She came back to the Mikaelson estate in a state of tears. No, Hermione was tired being angry all time, this time she allowed her tears to flow freely down her cheeks. She needed this overwhelming sadness to leak out before she decides to do something incredibly stupid like _off herself_ or something.

Klaus killed a man that she had taken interest in for the past month or so.

And he crushed his throat right in front of her when he caught them sharing a kiss.

Hermione actually _liked_ Ben, especially with that one-dimpled smile and charming hazel eyes that would make any girl sigh. She liked the way he flirted with her, persistent in his pursuit of her after their accidental meeting in some park from the next town over on one day where she was fed up with the Originals.

Especially one that had a _nasty_ temper and even a nastier bite.

He was attractive with his muscled body, sweet and funny with his humor, generous to those around him, and _intelligent. _Ben was a man from a humble background, hard-working and charming with that smile of his. He wasn't dishonest nor was he cocky, he was simply _Ben_.

And with him, she was just simply _Hermione_.

Furthermore, Hermione knew that kind of combination of ideal traits were hard to come by paired with good genes. She even kept him a secret from the Original family, not only wanting her privacy but also feared for his safety. Plus, Rebekah would no doubt and swoop in to steal the curly-haired stud away from her.

And she didn't even want to think what Klaus would do to him if he found out.

Hermione was _careful_ to hide his scent on her.

"So good ol' brother found out about lover boy?" Kol's voice caught her attention.

With red and puffy eyes, she glanced up to only see him leaning against the door frame in a casual manner, though; to her surprise he wasn't smirking at her pathetic state. No, in fact, he almost looked like he _pitied_ her. Hermione grimaced, obviously not in the mood to put up with the vampire's immature personality.

"I take your sniffling as a yes."

She wanted to scream at him, to tell him to leave her _alone_, but instead she just cried harder.

Because Ben was _dead_ and she couldn't be happy.

"What do you want?" She sounded like such a petulant child, wiping endless stream of tears in vain. They just wouldn't _stop_.

"We knew about him, Hermione," he tells her, suddenly by her side, rubbing her back in soothing circles, "Rebekah was the one who compelled him to meet you and all."

His words threw her off guard, and she felt herself bristled rage.

"_What?" _She shouted, shoving her hands against his chest. Suddenly Hermione wasn't so sad anymore, no, she was practically _livid_ at what they had done. Was it not enough that they basically owned her like some kind of pet?

"_It's not enough for you all, is it? You just **had** to have fun with my heart_," Hermione screamed, her vision clouded with not her tears but the color red as well, "_So what? Play with the witch's heart and go off telling your brother about **him**? Is that it?"_

Her voice was raised an octave and she became crazed with the way she flailed her arms around in anger.

Kol stayed silent, taking in all of her harsh words.

"Well, Kol," she spat, her voice becoming hoarse from all the screaming, "you and your bratty sister had your fun! Now leave me the hell alone!"

Hermione turned away from him, ready to make her hasty escape. She knew that she did not want to stick around when he finally blew up, not with that _bloody_ bat obsession of his. Hermione knew that he wouldn't mind using it on a stupid girl like her. He didn't have a problem with hurting her emotionally so what's a few broken bones and bruises will do?

But she will _not _continue crying in front of him. Not because of this.

"You're wrong, Hermione," his quiet words stopped her in her tracks, " It was just a prank at first, you know, to get back at Nik, but in the end we just wanted you to be happy."

She wanted to spit in his face and perhaps lose her mind temporarily to rock her body back and forth in that corner over here in this stupid _sitting_ room as Klaus would like to call it. Hermione wanted laugh her head off in order to keep herself from going completely _insane_. Hermione was going into hysterics now with all this Original vampire business and their twisted ways of showing they _care_.

"Oh by forcing a guy to _like _me for all this time?" Hermione sneered, her tears already gone and dry, "And by telling your brother to **kill_ him_**?"

"At first, but then Rebekah removed it, and just compelled him to forget about her. The rest was on his own," Kol stated with a hint of embarrassment, "Klaus just happened to follow you out today. He's been complaining that you have been out a bit too much."

Hermione glared at him, wanting to at least stake him and kill him for a short period of time.

Right now she hated anything and everything that had to do with this family.

"And why the hell would he care?"

He gave her a sardonic grin.

"He has a twisted way of showing his love, Hermione." And Hermione gawked at him.

"What the bloody hell are you going on about, Kol? Have you gone mad with your pursuit of pretty little things with sharp tongues?" She snapped, feeling a renewed sense of anger coursing through her veins.

Kol sighed, signaling to wait a moment to stand up and pour a large drink for himself, indicating that what he had to say was probably something _huge _with the way he generously poured the wine into his glass. She plopped back down on the couch, crossing her arms in front of her, her heart still hurting from the loss. All Hermione wanted to do was _leave_.

"When my brother loves something," Kol struggled to find the right words to say, "he…He cannot help but to _love too _much. I take it that you know about the whole daggering us situation?"

Hermione nodded, both impatient and intrigued by what he had to say.

All she wanted to do right now was to lie down and sleep.

"That's just one of the cases where he simply loves something too much. To the point where he has to use force in order for that love to stay by his side," he sighed, drinking a bit more of his wine, "When we were human, one day Klaus brought home a small pup whose mother was killed by one of our village's hunters. Mind you, Klaus still didn't know how to love then either."

He takes another large drink of his wine.

"It was sick, and he wanted to take care of it. It was his first pet," he gave her a sad smile, and for a moment, Hermione saw how _truly_ old he was and not some arrogant, cheeky teenager, "And so he wrapped it in a blanket. And then another and another and another. He just kept piling them on the little poor animal."

His dark eyes glanced up, his gaze meeting hers.

And with a hushed voice, he says, "And it died. Klaus smothered it with his _love_."

And he watched the way Hermione flinched at his words.

"That's what my brother's love does to everybody, Hermione. It smothers you until you can't breathe any longer. He means well, but he doesn't know how to do it properly. Everything he has ever loved has withered away, collecting dust," he paused to sigh as if he was going to tell her a dirty secret of his.

Kol gave her one of his heartbreaking smiles.

"Even us, Hermione, his family who is withering away because he simply loves us too much."

Suddenly Hermione realized what he was actually telling her. Alarmed, she looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise and perhaps even fear. His admission echoed throughout her mind, taunting her with its truth. Her situation was inevitable and laughable really the way she was now the object of his brother's twisted affection.

"You will wither away as well, Hermione, because of his love."

His words scared her, even more than Klaus himself in all his violent glory.

Because she knew it was true.

**~x~**

"Why didn't you tell me?" Klaus barked, his eyes tinged with yellow.

And right when she was just about to scurry back into her safe haven that was her room, _he_ had to show up upset at her door, blocking it with his intimidating size. It was as if she was the one that should be _apologizing_ to him with the way his nostrils kept flaring, and all Hermione wanted to do was just spit in his face and tell him to sod off.

"Because you would have done what you did today earlier!" Hermione screeched, not caring if her throat would be unbearably sore later on.

She _needed_ to yell at this idiotic Original.

"That's because you didn't ask me if you could date anyone else!" Klaus shouted back as he grabbed onto her arm roughly, and Hermione knew that there was going to be a bruise there later on. She knew that their fights would always leave her with bruises and him a few nasty cuts as well.

Great, now the tears were back in her eyes, staining her cheeks once more.

Bitterness and something akin to hatred swelled in her heart, and for a moment, Hermione felt herself become _truly_ hideous with the way he looked at her. His glassy blue eyes told her everything that he felt, from his fury to his hurt, and that's not what she wanted to see. No, she wanted to see the _true_ monster, not some lonely man who didn't know how to love.

"And who the hell are you? My father?" She spat, trying to shove him away with her feeble attempts.

"I am your Lord and master, witch! So you better hold that tongue of yours!"

Klaus tugged her arms, pulling her body towards him, and suddenly here they were screaming in each other's faces with their harsh words. He wasn't gentle with the way held her nor was his voice forgiving. No longer will someone cast him away, not _her_, not _Hermione_, not when she had her own darkness in her soul.

She **could not **throw his heart away, not for some human.

"You are no lord nor are you my master!_ You are my **captor**! _You have imprisoned me in this little pretty cage of yours! Along with your family!" Hermione snarled, spitting into his face. "I am not **yours **to order around, especially on who I will spend my intimate time with**_._**"

"I will show you imprisonment, you ungrateful-" His grip tightened around her dainty wrists, making her flinch in pain. His temper was getting the better of him, he knew that, especially when he saw fear flicker across Hermione's lovely face. Klaus must have been changing into his _true_ abominable self.

"Stop Klaus," she pleaded in a whisper, her wrists screaming to be released from his unforgiving grip, "Just _stop_."

And he did.

But he did not let her go even in his loosening grip and softening gaze.

"Why did you choose _him_?" His words sounded so desperate, and if Hermione was sane she would have laughed at his pathetic state. But Hermione wasn't sane, at least, not anymore since he came into her life. She couldn't laugh at him because then she would be laughing at herself as well.

They were both being pathetic creatures.

"I liked him."

She couldn't help but to look in those eyes of his.

It was such a shame that they covered what a terrible and tragic soul that was lying behind them.

"Why _can't_ you like **me**?" The way he said those words sounded like a soft keen whine of a hurt animal, and it wasn't any better with that pained expression on that pretty face of his.

And for once, Hermione didn't have a sarcastic remark or a nasty comeback because in all honesty, Klaus had just rendered her _speechless_. Not because of his childish words or his horrifying almost _brute_ behavior, but because of the way he was openly showing her his damn _feelings_. Why can't he just be some simple villain who wanted the world to suffer just because he was angry?

Why couldn't he just be emotionless and not show her this stupid, stupid, _stupid_ human side of him?

"I don't know, Klaus," she whispered, licking her chapped lips, "Maybe it's because you ruined my life but that would be a lie since you saved my best friend. Maybe it's because you are a monster but that would be hypocritical of me….because there are other worse monsters out there. Maybe it's because you are vindictive, cruel, controlling, and vicious."

Hermione let out a shuddering sigh.

"And maybe because you _keep **smothering **_me. You don't know how to care for people. You say you care about them but you _hurt_ them in order to stay by your side. I can't like you, Klaus, because you and I are-"

"-Not so different. We are both lonely. We have been hurt. We know we have our own demons but we deal with them every day. You and I have been abandoned and disappointed. And we are both emotionally handicapped. Why can't you like me Hermione?" Klaus whispered, bringing her small fingers to his lips.

"Because Klaus," Hermione smiled sadly, "You can't do these sort of things and expect people to forgive you so easily. I could have easily liked you, you know, if you and I were different people. If you and I were normal people, but this…this can never happen. You've simply done too much damage."

"Is there any hope for me?"

Hermione pressed her soft palm against his stubbled cheek.

"You have to change in order to have any sense of hope."

"**_Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want!"  
-Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan-_**

* * *

**Phew! Well, Part Two is officially done. I had to use a lot of songs in order to strike up any inspiration, and plus, real life got to me! And my wrist was hurting...Is that a good enough excuse? Oh! And before anyone asks me why I don't like Caroline, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Caroline. She is one of the most developed characters, in my opinion, on the Vampire Diaries.  
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**Oh, as for the quote, I felt like it was suitable for Hermione and for this chapter. Plus, it's also from a really great book, again, in my opinion.  
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**So what did I songs did I use for inspiration?  
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**_Charlotte _by Hope Sandoval and Warm Inventions  
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**_So Cold _Ben Cocks.  
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**And a bunch of sad songs as well as Florence and the Machine and Coldplay.  
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**Anyways, do you have any interesting thoughts you would like to share?  
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**Then please feel free to leave a review!  
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**Until next time!  
**

**UPDATE:  
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**For any of you who follow my other stories, especially _A Sense of Awakening_, I have created a tumblr for the sole purpose of my fanfiction and even a few sneak peeks of future stories and possible stories. For further information, just look on my profile for the link and such.  
**

**-The Red Strings-  
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	3. To Free

**So where have I been for the last couple months? Well, I've been recovering from what Life had to throw at me, lemons and watermelons and whatnot. However, with every down there is an up, and there was _certainly _an upside to this. Though, I am sorry for such a long wait, I was working on this third part in bits and pieces. **

**Inspiration kept eluding me, however, since my short break has started, I've gotten up from my lazy butt and started typing away. I do hope you all like it, or liked bits and pieces of it. Some of the scenes were hard to write, truthfully, and the final installment of the story is truly diffcult to write without crying a bit.  
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**Was that too much? I'm just a crybaby.  
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**Thank you ALL for the reviews, I really do appreciate them. They have made me smile and sometimes even laugh, and for those who have questions (specifically you, Dark-Supernatural Angel -smile- ) I hope that this chapter answers [sort of] your questions in regarding Hermione's disgust towards Klaus as far as being an Original-Vampire-Werewolf-Hybrid.  
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**And I love to thank Cassie-D 101 and Winter's Empire for putthing this story in their archives!  
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**You all are so wonderful, thank you for supporting me and this story.  
**

**Anyways, I do hope you all enjoy this  
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**Warning(s): Inappropriate language and use of alcohol.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own either of the series, _Vampire Diaries _or _Harry Potter_. Also, I do not own the song that is mentioned here, _Skinny Love_.  
**

* * *

**.:Part Three:.  
To Free**

…**.**_**November 15th….. **_

She knew that she was being watched.

For every turn of her head, Hermione would see a blur with runaway locks of gold. With every silent moment, she would hear a soft murmur and the occasional grumble. Hermione knew that she was being watched with jealous eyes, and it amused her.

Caroline Forbes,Vampire-Barbie, _perfection_ was jealous of her, and it was all because of some arrogant hybrid. Initially, Hermione felt frustrated by the baby vampire's presence but she quickly warmed up to the idea of having another girl _jealous_ because of her. Plain Jane, she was, became the source of annoyance of _Miss Mystic Falls._

A laughable situation really.

So Hermione spent her days wandering in this small town watching Caroline _observe_ her.

It was amusing, it really was, but then she realized what the blonde baby vampire really was: a sad and insecure girl who knew nothing about being _happy_. It wasn't a rare story nor was it the most tragic, but Hermione could relate.

It was a sad story that would always happen.

So it wasn't an _accident_ when Hermione happened to ran into her in the middle of the street, leaves fluttering around and about them as if it was a fateful meeting between two people, and perhaps it was. It wasn't a grand meeting where all the planets aligned nor was it the loudest and most colorful blossoming of friendship.

But it was special in its very own quiet manner.

"No doubt your witch friend absolutely detests me," Hermione grinned, taking a sip of her drink, "I know she's been searching for answers and all. I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out."

Though, in all honesty, Hermione liked dangling the obvious in front of the other witch's face. Something about Bonnie just irked her, and it wasn't anything personal. It was just something about her that annoyed her, and it amused her when she could return the favor.

Perhaps it was that prejudice that Bonnie has shown that reminded her of home, though, then again, Hermione was being hypocritical of herself. She has welcomed everyone except Klaus, but then again entirety of Klaus's existence went against the balance of nature itself.

It was seeing the one thing that Voldemort had tried to achieve but failed.

_Indestructibility and immortality. _

It was terrifying, really.

"Oh yeah, about that, you are a witch, right? She says your magic feels…same but somewhat different?" Caroline titled her head to the side, her face twisted with curiosity.

If only they knew, Hermione thought with a small smile, and so that how her afternoon went. Speaking to a girl who would be forever young and perhaps even eternally insecure, and it was such a shame since Caroline had potential to be something _more_ than just some shallow image that she had created for herself.

"Why are you being so nice to me _now_?"

The question threw Hermione off.

_She needed a distraction from her own messed up life._

Hermione was not always _so _**noble. **

""Well, you have been following me for the past three weeks or so," Hermione replied with a small smile –_You already knew about Ben-_ she desperately crush that thought, hoping her smile had not wavered, "And I know that you aren't the typical blonde imbecile cheerleader that everyone makes you out to be. If you were, Klaus wouldn't be so interested in you."

It was honest, she thought, watching the blonde visibly cringe at her words. Klaus would have never given her a second glance if there wasn't something truly special about this girl. The sudden hurt that appeared on her lovely face was quickly smoothened away. It reminded her a bit of Draco, but it wasn't quick enough to hide everything.

Insecurity, hurt, and jealousy.

"He's a bit slow with the latest gifts and all."

Such cold and unfitting words from an affection-starved girl.

"I've learned a lot about you, Caroline, and not just from Klaus's horrible rants about you but from observing you observing me, which is no doubt Salvatore's idea?" Hermione asked, her expression slightly amused.

"Damon's a bit paranoid." Her eyebrow twitched.

Hermione bit back a smile.

"Well, anyway, I've learned about the whole bit with you and that doppelganger. Klaus told me about what he was expecting from you, well, you know prior to the sacrifice and all. He is quite chatty when he is drunk. He sings like a canary," Hermione lilted, "And you seem a bit sad."

"Well, can't be exactly happy when you're dead and all, you know?" It was a snappy reply, but Hermione did not blink an eye. She had dealt with worse in school when she had once roomed with girls.

"I've seen your thoughts once, Caroline. I know about your whole issue with Elena."

Hermione watched her bristle like a cat, and like any other feline, she looked like she was ready to pounce on her, fangs and all.

"No, I haven't entered your mind ever since then. It was wrong of me, but you all caught me in a bad mood and the Bennett witch kept trying to give me an aneurysm or something," Hermione gave her a sardonic grin, "But I really want to talk about you and your thoughts."

It appeased her somewhat, and she became relaxed once more.

_Like a cat._

"Fine! What do you want to tell me?" She snapped, her leg already shaking with not only annoyance but anticipation. Hermione tilted her head in a thoughtful manner, soaking in the situation.

Everything slipped into silence, Caroline's bright eyes studying her as if she were some impossible puzzle. The crease between her eyebrows deepened and her lips turned down into a worried frown. It was a look of pure insecurity and defeat.

"You could be happy, you know," Hermione said slowly with a small sigh, "If you could just stop for once and think about how _great_ you are and not compare yourself to somebody else."

And then she could see everything break and rearrange inside of her.

"_Have you been in my mind_?" Tears filled those pretty eyes.

She could see why Klaus had loved her eyes so much.

Expressive and so _light._

"**No**, Caroline. I'm just telling you that you will be a lot happier when you realize that people have their own fatal flaws, and that you, yourself, are a great girl who has offered everyone she loves a piece of her heart. So for once, stop comparing yourself to other people. Nothing can be measured between two people." Hermione tried to offer a small smile, a pathetic one, but a smile nonetheless.

Caroline simply stared back at her in wonder.

It was in that moment they had found something in each other that they had needed. Hermione found a friend in Caroline, and in return, Caroline found someone who understood her. It was a fleeting moment of companionship.

And it was all that they had wanted.

**~x~**

…_**.November 18th…..**_

Klaus and his family have been alive- well, _alive_ as a vampire can get- for a long time, a thousand years, give or take. When his mother poisoned him and his siblings with the blood of _Tatia_, and of course, killing them off to change them, Klaus felt afraid the next morning.

An odd concept, really, when fear was the first thing he had felt after being immortalized.

Was it terrible of him to try and off himself once in awhile during the first few decades?

It was unnatural to be forever young with very little to kill you, and by _Gods_ did Klaus try to kill himself. He tried various methods, from throwing himself off of cliffs to even running into a broken piece of wood, in which Elijah called him **foolish **afterwards. Hell, he even tried to consume large amount of vervain once, but that only made his skin and insides burn unpleasantly.

But as the decades quickly turned into centuries, Klaus came to his _survival_ instincts. It wasn't exactly a secret that his father wanted all his children, especially his dead wife's bastard child, dead, and despite his occasional suicidal tendencies, he _never_ wanted his siblings –even his brat of a younger brother, Kol- dead because of their terrible father.

He loved his family too much, perhaps a bit _too_ much.

So Klaus lived his early days as a vampire with his sad thoughts entertaining him mixed in with protecting his family so _of course_ having the _human experience_ was out of the question. Love was out of the question when humans died like flies, and he could never bring himself to love another woman since Tatia, the very same woman that his brother loved.

Her allure seemed to have been passed down to her successors, a dangerous thing, indeed.

It wasn't until a decade or so after his turning that he actually **done **_it_. Every one of his siblings had already tasted the pleasures of the human flesh, and he was always teased by Rebekah and Kol for being so _**chaste**_. With all the self-loathing, sadness of his little brother's death, and his _own_, fornicating was the last thing on his mind.

Though, Kol would disagree with him on various levels since apparently _'fucking'_ was the best distraction from feeling so lonesome, but then again this was his brother who enjoyed feeding off of his women while he was still having his fun.

Of course, there were times before that he had **almost** done it -he wasn't _that_ inexperienced-, but he had never garnered the self-restraint to stop himself from sinking his teeth into his intended sexual partners for that night.

He wasn't too keen on the idea of becoming a necrophiliac.

However, it was one particular year where he had spent somewhere on the British Isle that he had met _her_. Lucia was her name, and she was a lovely and delicate thing with soft waves of crimson with eyes of summer green. The details of her life were hazy to him, but Klaus could always remember the sweet curve of her lips when she smiled.

Klaus was still young and inexperienced despite the fact he was a decade older, but it was something about her that moved _something_ inside of him. It was an unusual stir in his chest, but it was always a flicker of something unknown but familiar. He didn't love her, but he was deeply affected by her.

_Affection_ was what he felt towards her and nothing more because he couldn't. No woman could ever replace the love he had felt for Tatia, and despite the fact that Lucia was a beauty; he couldn't bring himself to feel any more than just a cheap imitation of love.

They had spent a lot of time together, and Klaus felt like _him_, you know, the human Niklaus. It was refreshing and captivating the way she made him feel, and he knew that he had missed out the experiencing all the different shades of love all those years ago. The experience that they both had shared together was lovely and surprising.

It was intoxicating how her scent spiked whenever he had sent her on the edge, and it was even better when she clung onto him when they both experienced the beginning and the end of their little world. He remembered how he whispered her name repeatedly into her fiery locks, desperate in memorizing her sweet scent and the way he held her against his own body.

Klaus didn't love her, no, he didn't _love_. He _**couldn't.**_

But he tried so hard to feel the **love** that Lucia gave him.

"_Klaus, Klaus...Klaus…love…My love…Klaus….My Klaus…"_

Lucia was soon married off to another man, a man who promised her dying father that he would take care of his sweet young daughter, but she promised him his heart. Lucia promised him her heart, her body, and soul.

_**She promised him her everything**_**.**

And so he took her heart on her wedding night, leaving the village to give into the burning flames of fire that he created out of spite. That man could not take her away, no, he could not! Not when she still had her promises to keep. This was the first time when disappointment twisted its cruel knife into his heart.

Klaus had left his sweet Lucia, taking the heart that she had promised with him.

_Promises, promises, they meant nothingg._

"So where is she, brother?" Kol's teasing voice reeled him back from his memories.

Klaus blinked, suddenly aware that he was still in his sitting room with his open sketchbook on his lap. The hands of sadness softly plucked at his shriveled heart when he saw the same warm smile on his half-drawn woman. He closed it carefully, ever so gentle with his book of creations.

"Worried that she is dilly-dallying with another human commoner?"

"Hermione is a commoner, too, brother, so please remember that," Klaus chided, annoyed by his brother's words, "And she's out in our blasted woods again."

His younger brother gave him a cheeky smile along with a thoughtful hum.

"She doesn't want to see you, Nik. She doesn't want to see Rebekah and me neither, and she's only half-friendly towards Elijah," Kol sighed as he watched the rain pitter-patter against the window.

The sitting room felt awfully lonely without the witch's aggravating presence.

Klaus threw his glass down, wasting yet again another screwdriver. Kol gave him a look of disapproval before offering another smile, and for some odd reason, he felt a bit comforted by his sibling's unwavering attitude. Of course, he found Kol's company to be annoying and tiresome, but he was one of the constant things in life that will never change.

It was a sad fact. Always the cheeky eternal brat that brother of his, and Klaus would be damned if Kol ever grew up. It would be a sad day when one day his brother will wake up and discover how truly grey and cold life has become.

"You have broken her wings and taken away her freedom, and now, she is in the woods, bleeding away her pain." Kol sang, plopping down onto the empty love seat.

"Aren't you poetic this morning?" Klaus gave him a sardonic smile, feeling his jaw clench.

"I sing the miseries of a woman's heart." Kol smiled ruefully, motioning for his brother to pour him a shot of whiskey as well.

Of course, they were day-drunks, he and his older brother. They were practically drinking partners for horrible days like these. But they never thanked each other for having each other's company, and Kol wasn't going to start today, not even when his brother actually gave him a drink without a threat or two.

"You see, brother, that's where you are wrong," Klaus drawled as he poured himself another shot, "I didn't break her. She was the one who gave me her wings and freedom. She was the one who gave me her everything, and she is not bleeding away her agony. No, Hermione is experiencing growing pains."

Kol didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his brother's logic.

**~x~**

…_**.November 20th…. **_

Hermione didn't like to listen to sad music when she was in a horrible mood that swayed back and forth from sadness to frustration, but it seemed like that aspect of her changed as well. Here she was in a pile of leaves, _somewhere_ in the middle of the large Mikaelson estate. It was their own little reality here; their own _world_ of pretty things, power, and idiotic love troubles.

So old and so self-absorbed, she thought bitterly, not minding the fact that she lost all feeling in the tips of her fingers.

Here she was on the filthy ground in the middle of autumn, slipping away in her deep lake of emotion as she listened to the sad, somewhat pretty voice of a song that she chose for this dreary weather. It wasn't the greatest, his voice could have been better, and different words would have made this song a bit more poetic.

Though, its flaws what made this song so lovely, and she knew that it meant more to the author than to anyone else.

It sounded like a confession, well, _almost_.

**Skinny Love**, she thought with a small sigh, her grip tightening around her small iPod.

"_And I told you to be kind."_ The words came out as a whisper.

What a line, a lesson that would never be learned.

_**Something he will never learn.**_

Hermione avoided thinking about him, not only because she was still furious with him about Ben and hovering over her shoulder, but because every time she thought about him it became _tiring_. It was exhausting trying to even understand his logic and moody attitude, and trying to _not_ think of him was even more draining.

So she thought about something else that would take the focus off of him s**o**mewhat: his **exasperating **_**and**_** annoying family.**

It was odd the way the Original family have been treating her as if she was a _truly_ their pet with the way they randomly lavished gifts on her. From small little gadgets like this to idiotic toys that shouldn't even amuse them at all, and yet they deemed Wednesday night as _Just Dance_ night. A competitive lot, they were, and surprisingly, Elijah was the one who was most competitive out of all of them.

However, it was Klaus who always threw a temper tantrum, accusing them all of cheating, which was _true_.

Shouldn't it bother her that these ancient creatures were doing something so silly,_ so human_ that seemed almost cruel for life to show this side of them to her?

It would have been easier to continue hating them all.

"You know, hiding out in the woods seem a bit idiotic, especially in this weather," Rebekah's voice forced itself into her own little world, "Hermione, you forget you are human sometimes. You can get sick, you know."

"Then what? You and your brothers will scramble around, trying to find me medicine? I'm not your pet, yet you keep treating me like one." Hermione snapped, scooting away from haughty girl.

Here was probably one of the seemingly shallowest girls that Hermione has ever met, sitting down next to her on the cold _wet_ ground with a pair of designer jeans, not caring if they get stained and ruined. Even without being completely made up, Rebekah was still a beauty, and Hermione just simply wanted to curse the whole entire Original family for having outrageously good genes.

Hermione couldn't help but to scowl at the unfairness in life.

"Only because you keep letting us treat you like one."

"_What?"_ Hermione squawked indignantly, her face becoming eerily similar to that of a goldfish's. The blonde beauty simply ignored her angry words, plucking the small music player out of her hands.

_What the hell?_

All she wanted was some peace and quiet out here, _alone_, and she can't even have that!

"Really, Hermione? Sad, pathetic songs do not fit you," Rebekah quipped, throwing the iPod back at the scowling witch.

"Then what fits me?" Hermione said daringly, and she immediately regretting challenging her.

The blonde bombshell smirked.

"It's Wednesday night, Hermione. So I'm thinking a bit of _Just Dance_ _2_ should fit you right about now!"

Hermione groaned, tugging her arm back from the Original's loose grip. She would rather sit outside in this cold and dreary weather in a pile of leaves than face another round of filled with accusations and dagger threats. Honestly, this family was completely _nutters_ with the way their moods shifted from one end of the spectrum to another.

"_But Kol always trips me!"_ Hermione grumbled.

Rebekah scoffed.

"And you always do something to Elijah's feet being glued to the floor!"

It was hard to try to continue hating this family, especially when they acted to _bloody human and nice_, sometimes though, and besides, they weren't perfect.

She was far from it.

**~x~**

…**.**_**November 23rd….**_

"Oh come on now, brother, it's not her fault she isn't your usual type. She is neither a dark-haired beauty nor a golden-haired goddess, but she is more of a nymph. Playful and extremely mischievous," Kol smirked, raising his shot glass to the annoyed hybrid, "And though she lacks a good rack, her legs make up for it."

Klaus glared at the smirking brunet, daring him to go on further.

"And those legs," he whistled, "are a mile-long. Smooth and toned. I wonder how they would feel-"

"Say another word and I will tear out something more than just your liver. Perhaps a kidney of yours and sell it on the black market." Klaus quipped, flinging a lime slice at his annoying sibling.

"Always with your idle threats, brother!"

"Do shut up, Kol."

Oh, the brunet was always daring and never learned to keep his mouth shut.

"Hermione," Kol breathed out her name in a drunken slur, "She is not an outstanding beauty. She's more brainy than sexy, and sometimes, it makes me wonder why you even like her. She is nothing like your Caroline."

Klaus slammed down his book, effectively shutting up his brother for _once_.

He felt his jaws clench at the sight of his brother's knowing smirk.

"_She is nothing like Caroline._"

"Isn't that why you like her so much then, brother? You are trying to dissemble the woman you loved by loving another woman who is the complete opposite. You did that with Tatia-"

"_Shut up_, **Kol**!" Klaus knew that he shouldn't let his egotistic brother crawl underneath his skin, but he just _couldn't_ help it. So here he was again, pinning his sibling against the sitting room floor with his hand fastened around Kol's neck, fangs bared and eyes bright with anger.

Kol simply laughed in his face.

"Seriously brother? Always denying the obvious! Of course, you would have fallen in love with a haughty thing like Forbes, shallow and the American girl in every sense. Total opposite of the docile and gentle-natured _Tatia_, but now," he spat, his smirk twisting into an unfitting scowl, "You have to go and fall in love with a _broken_ woman. Snarky, headstrong, defiant but somehow still in the boundaries of being obedient, and she isn't _gorgeous_ like the others. So don't be such an arse-face!"

"When do you ever shut up, Kol? You and that mouth of yours-"

"You are just trying to run away from everything again. Deal with your blasted feelings with that blonde before you even try to woo our pet, you idio-" "_When will you ever shut up?"_

Klaus had never meant to snap his brother's neck, but his temper always got the better of him. It was one of the many things that overshadowed his charming good looks and alluring smile, and despite the fact that he always _tried_ to feel remorseful since it was the right thing to do. Well, according to Hermione's standards.

It was the _human_ thing to do, she would say.

But no matter how hard he tried to feel guilty about any of his questionable actions, he could never bring himself to feel it. Klaus just _couldn't_, he was incapable of feeling such emotion unless…unless it affected his own goals and interests. So temporarily immobilizing his brother shouldn't be something to worry about.

"Really, Klaus, I expected better from you, especially when it comes to our younger brother, Kol. You really shouldn't let him get under your skin like that," Elijah's chastising voice carried over from the door.

"He was getting annoying," Klaus snapped, glaring at his older sibling over his shoulder.

"Well, Rebekah and I say the same thing about you, but you don't see us going around and snapping your neck, now do you?" Elijah said amusingly, raising an eyebrow at his brother's scowling expression.

"No, but you all tried to dagger me once."

"And you daggered us all, more than once, might I add."

"For your _protection!"_

"And for your own benefit as well, Klaus."

Elijah gave him smile of victory when he witnessed his competitive brother admit defeat by stomping away like some spoiled brat. He gave his temporarily dead brother a glance, and with a shrug, he stole a bottle of chardonnay to accompany him on this quiet night.

_Kol would be fine_ and the house will be finally nice and peaceful.

Well, _it would be_ if it weren't for the sounds of his brother wrecking yet another rare and delicate piece of furniture. It was probably that wonderful display cabinet that he obtained from the Rococo period, and he felt his heart drop at the idea of his collection shrinking. His family never appreciated the treasures in their home.

The Original sighed, and silently he wished that he wasn't the responsible one in the family.

"Niklaus, stop breaking everything! I'm tired of importing our stuff overseas!"

**~x~**

…_**.November 25th….**_

Hermione was becoming excellent in the art of avoidance. She certainly was since she hasn't seen Klaus for the past three weeks or so, even during the _Just Dance_ nights. Either she was really good at avoiding him or he was simply doing the same. Rebekah called them both imbeciles who were only running around in an endless circle.

"I'm surprised they even let you out on your own."

The witch didn't even have to look over her shoulder to know that it was Klaus's dream girl.

"Well, being a witch and all helps," Hermione drawled, sipping on her margarita as she gave the blonde vampire a quick glance, "Shouldn't you be off somewhere? Planning and dictating the all American teenage life and what not?"

She didn't mean to sound so _bitchy_, it was the alcohol that was talking for her.

Caroline didn't even flinch at her harsh words. No, her long and thick mascara-coated lashes just fluttered at the curly-haired woman as if she was used to such generalization. The baby vampire just took her place on the neighboring sitting stool next to Hermione, compelling the bartender for a small round of shots.

"Klaus likes me," the Barbie-dolled girl stated after downing her own drink.

"Fascinating." Hermione shot back, rolling her eyes. "I really don't give a damn, Caroline. We already established that during our lunch date a few weeks ago."

Caroline rolled her eyes at her, already used to the usual biting, alcohol-driven words from Damon the Day-Drunk.

"But you really do. Or you wouldn't be here, drinking your thoughts away. Confused and everything."

Childish anger swelled up inside of Hermione, and she huffed and puffed her cheeks.

"_I'm not confused!"_ Hermione snapped, slamming down her glass onto the table. "I'm angry! Frustrated! Annoyed! Okay? So leave it alone!"

"Honey, I may be only seventeen, but I know what jealously looks like. Trust me, Hermione, I've worn that look many times before." Caroline sighed, signaling the bartender for a drink.

The brunette snorted, sloshing her drink around as she moved in her seat. She gave the blonde a look, her expression torn between exasperation and jealousy. Caroline was beautiful, there was no sense in lying to herself, especially when the girl's hair shone gold even in this poor dim light. Hermione took another gulf, only this time in self-pity.

Why couldn't she be pretty?

"I'm not jealous." She stated but her voice wavered with self-doubt. Hermione didn't even have to look at the cheerleader to know that she was giving her _the look_. What was is and shallow girls ending up as the most understanding? Perhaps it was only because it dealt with a guy.

And all girls, even the shallowest and bitchiest girls, can relate to guy problems.

"He stopped giving me drawings. Stopped paying attention to me, really," Caroline said with a sigh, "I don't mind, though, since I already have Tyler."

Hermione's eyebrow twitched but said nothing.

"You know how you said don't compare yourself to others, Hermione? Why don't you take the same advice for yourself because as far as I know, you and I can't be compared since we are different, right? It will save you in the long run, trust me; you're the one who taught me that."

Caroline flashed Hermione a quick smile before bouncing off her seat, walking towards Elena and Bonnie who finally arrived. Hermione felt her eyes swell up with tears, and for some odd reason, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She quickly wiped her tears away, not wanting to appear pathetic to anyone here.

It was the alcohol, she thought, since everything became a blur and she cried over nothing all the time whenever she drank.

Hermione finished her drink and ordered a shot for herself.

_Merlin, _she was drunk.

"Well, if I knew you were going out for a drink, I would have came with you as your designated drinking buddy, darling!" Kol's irritating voice snuck up behind her, and Hermione knew that she would need something stronger with withstand his smart-ass comments tonight.

Hermione downed her shot in a quick gulp.

**~x~**

Kol snapped.

They were all bound to snap every once and awhile, and honestly, Hermione was expecting one of them to crack. She was expecting violence, harsh words, and even a few wounds on her person when it did happen. Though, the witch never expected him to drag her out on an old back road bridge, daring her to go jump off with him.

He was completely hammered, but then again, so was she.

"Come on now, darling, it's fun! It's an adventure! Be daring for once in your life!" Kol slurred with the bottle in his hand already half empty. He slung an arm around, and Hermione scrunched up her nose at the smell of alcohol on his breath.

Her breath probably wasn't a bouquet of flowers either.

"Kol, I think you've gone off your rocker! I am not jumping off this damn bridge for your own amusement. And I've been a bit _too_ daring in my life." She shoved his arm off of her and took a few cautious and wobbly steps backwards from the edge.

"Oh yeah, that's true!" Kol chortled. "You're with my brother. _Very_ daring, indeed! Quite stupid actually."

"I'm not **with** your brother, Kol, I'm his witch servant! Now jump already and I will just wait here while twiddling my damn thumbs together!" She slurred, her cheeks red, a combination from the alcohol she had consumed before and embarrassment.

Kol snorted, obviously he had planned to do this with Hermione, with or _without_ her permission, but he figured that if he convinced her then his brother wouldn't rip out his liver again. He stumbled towards the witch, intending to wrap his arms around her for the quick dive, but no, Hermione was too smart for him.

She raised her wand, the tip against his chest.

"_**No**_, Kol, I am not going to jump with you." Hermione said slowly as if she were talking to a stubborn child rather than a thousand-year old vampire. She already felt her head pounding.

Kol's bottom lip jutted out, and if Hermione felt less aggravated, she would have found the image of him pouting to be both ridiculous and amusing.

"You are such a party-pooper, pet. I promise that there aren't any rocks down there so you'll live. And if you can't swim, then you can climb on my back and we'll jump in together!"

Though his words sounded a bit silly to his own ears, that didn't deter him from mustering all the will and power to create a pouty expression that was akin to the puppy-dog look. Hermione snorted, waved him off as if his face had little effect on her, which it didn't. In fact, it made it difficult for Hermione to not laugh in his face and at his pathetic attempts.

"_I'm human_, Kol, you're a** vampire**." She waved her hand between them for emphasis. "One of us is living and the other, well, _isn't_ really. Plus, you are basically indestructible so the answer is no."

"Please, Hermione! I'm bored and I haven't jumped off of anything in awhile!"

"No, Kol. Now jump before I **make** you jump." Hermione scowled, pocketing her wand.

"Just give me an answer to one question."

She sighed. "Fine, Kol. What _is it_?"

He gave her a peculiar look, tilting his head to the side in question.

"Why do you stay with my brother when it is obvious that you do not want to be here at all? I know that he hasn't compelled you to stay with him since you still have that nasty temper and free will of yours."

It was an innocent question paired with glittering eyes.

"I swore my loyalty to him, Kol. I did an oath, a _promise_ to serve him and only him until the day I die. Klaus saved the one who gave up his childhood and even the future for this world….He saved my best friend…And now I am forever in his debt. Sorry for the dramatics." Tears welled up in her eyes.

It was the damn alcohol that was making her cry.

He tilted his head.

"You can never leave, can you?" He slurred his words, but his face became so serious that it reminded her a bit of his older brother, Elijah.

Kol wasn't some kind of idiot that she made him out to be.

She released a sound that neither a cry nor a laugh. It was odd to him really, how Hermione was strong despite these bittersweet feelings that weighed down on her soul. It was rare for him to their little pet in a light-airy mood; it was as if she would walk among the clouds with the way she stared off into the distance.

"Only your brother can release me from this prison, Kol…He has to _mean_ it, and we both know that Klaus's heart could never be selfless. It's as if he needs to hold onto someone in order to know, to be in _control._"

His expression was blank, void of emotion, but Hermione was grateful. She rather have him indifferent than pity her. Kol may be an idiot most of the time, but he knew what people need the most, may it be painful and brutally honest.

"It's getting late," she sighed, turning away from him, "we should return soon."

The fun was ruined by one simple question.

It was around midnight, and she knew that Klaus and the others would be wondering where they went. They would never let their nutty brother take out their pet so late at night, hell; they would _never_ allow Kol to even take her out without his siblings. Perhaps it was a good idea that they rarely do.

However, one could never blame him for trying.

"Plea-" "No."

Kol rolled his eyes. It was obvious that arguing with Hermione could take several hours along with a few bruises so without wasting any more time and effort, he lifted her up in his arms and with a blink of an eye, they were already jumping off of the edge. He grinned at the sound of her screaming.

_She will surely drown!_

It was a violent landing, the water rippling and crumbling all around them, engulfing them both in her cold embrace. The water didn't affect Kol but then again, he was after all _dead_ and full of happy-hour drinks.

However, it was harsh and cold against her skin, chasing any warmth that she held in her tiny body, and then _it_ started. To be paralyzed yet aware of the chilly waters surrounding her, to feel the soft and tangled hair, the silent horror that she had faced in water before.

Her heart pummeled against her chest, and panic started to constrict her throat.

Hermione shoved him away, desperately trying to find the surface, but where was it? How deep had they gone? Everything was _black_, and suddenly, she couldn't see Kol anymore. Everything seemed deeper and darker, and she couldn't find a way to escape it.

_The water was strangling her, she swore that it was. _

_Strangling the _**life**_out of her._

Her lungs burned, and the need for air was becoming unbearably painful.

It was black and deep, and she couldn't find the way.

No way out, not way out, it was the story of her life.

Hermione just drifted into the darkness.

**~x~**

To throw up water was painfully disgusting.

The hands on her chest were not hands of mercy but of selfish need.

Fear was evident in his voice.

"Oh Jesus _fucking_ Christ! Klaus is going to **dagger me **_**forever!**_ Don't die, don't die, don't die! Please don't die on me, pet! Hermione, please just wake up!" He was gentle with her yet at the same time, it bruised her.

"_Damn it! _Drink up, darling. Drink up."

_It was sickeningly sweet and warm._

It should have disgusted her, the way it slid down her throat in an unhurried and thick fashion. It was harshly metallic, but oddly comforting. She felt Kol's shaking hands against her cheeks, and for a moment, Hermione felt that she was actually _loved_.

A strange notion.

Hermione felt her lips curl into a small smile.

"Hermione, thank _God._" He began cradling her body back and forth.

He started to sing a lullaby in that stupid drunken voice of his. It was not the most beautiful rendition with the way he messed up on the high notes and when his voice cracked, but it was the most comforting thing that she had listened to in a long while.

Kol's tired voice lulled her sleep.

**~x~**

When his little brother bustled through their front door with an unconscious Hermione in his arms, Klaus felt the flames of rage and jealousy consuming him at that moment. Rebekah and Elijah were quick by Kol's side, concerned for their little pet and paid little attention to their hybrid brother's inability to prioritize certain aspects in life.

"Stop acting like a damn _child_, Nik!" Rebekah snapped, annoyed by his glowering. "Either you help us with her, or you can just **leave**."

Elijah led Kol to the sitting room, keenly aware of Klaus's heavy gaze on them. Kol paid no attention to his brother for all he was focused on was Hermione and her health. She was shivering, lips blue and her skin sickly white. Their little pet was not invincible like them.

It was harsh reality that was thrusted upon them all.

"Fine." Klaus ground his teeth together, stalking off in order to find extra covers and towels.

Rebekah snorted in triumph.

"Stomped away to pout, didn't he?" Elijah's voice carried over from the lit fireplace.

"How accurate you are, Elijah."

She didn't know whether or not to consider Nik emotionally challenged.

**~x~**

…_**.November 30th….**_

It was one of those rare days where Hermione would forget her angry feelings towards the Original Hybrid, and Klaus would actually be pleasant to everybody on the street without having the urge to rip anyone's heart out for giving him an odd look. Perhaps it was because it was November, and Thanksgiving was near.

Or maybe it was the fact that he didn't rip his brother into two for bringing 'their pet' drunk swimming in the middle of the night.

It was safe to say that Klaus and the rest of his siblings voted and agreed that Kol was no longer allowed to be Hermione's drinking buddy. A token of thanks for the upcoming holiday, Rebekah had said, and for putting up and entertaining Kol when they couldn't.

Hermione never participated in an American holiday such as that. It was an interesting experience to sit down and have a Thanksgiving feast with the Original family. It was _normal_, minus the blood, and it reminded her of the times she had spent at the Burrow. The chattering, the laughter, everything was warm, and all the miserable things that usually plagued this family were forgotten.

_She missed her own family._

And so Thanksgiving was her excuses for letting the usually arrogant hybrid sit next to her on the sitting room sofa, even it has been _weeks _since the actual holiday.

Who was she kidding?

Hermione simply missed Klaus's company.

"Tell me something about your world. The most magnificent thing you have ever seen that no mere normal human can imitate with their hands and fancy machines." His voice sounded so wistful and childlike as he twiddled his thumbs together.

Hermione found his curiosity somewhat endearing, and for a moment, she allowed herself to indulge in his company.

"In a world full of magic and wonders, it would be silly of me to say it," her cheeks reddened, and she blames it on the wine, "You will think of me as a silly little girl."

Klaus snorted.

"Like you care about what anyone thinks of you, Hermione, so quit the shy act and just tell me."

Hermione gave him an exasperated look at his demanding tone.

"Hogwarts was the most magnificent thing I have ever laid my eyes on," her voice filled with wonder and nostalgic.

"_Your school? _Honestly, Hermione, I knew you were a _nerd_ but now you have just made it worse for yourself."

The stubborn witch threw him an insulted look.

"I'm not a _nerd_! I prefer bookworm!" Her insecure side was resurfacing, and suddenly, she felt like she was in school all over again with everyone poking fun at her hair, buck teeth, and cleverness. Then Klaus had to go and laugh at her, making her want to punch him in his nose.

Damn him and his hybrid status.

"Fine, fine, you are not a _nerd_. You are an intellectual, there. So go on?" Klaus motioned her with his hand as if he were some king and she his loyal subject.

_Arrogant prick, _she thought with a heavy sigh, counting down the seconds as she allowed herself to cool down. For a moment, they sat there in silence, their usual _comfortable_ silence that they can only find with each other. Hermione breathed loudly, overdramatizing the situation.

"It was everybody's home. It was…It was magnificent. It was _old_ and you could feel the castle's history…what it has witnessed. When I walked through the very doors of Hogwarts," Her words turned into whispers," And…and I felt like I could be something more than just some bookish girl with bushy hair and buck teeth. It was spectacular not only because it was an architectural master piece, no, it was spectacular because it _made_ people."

She sighed, finally realizing that tears had dripped down her cheeks.

"It was what made me have a family. An irreplaceable, _somewhat_ annoying family," Hermione laughed, feeling every emotion she did not want to deal with at the moment. She didn't know whether or not to be grateful that he distracted her with another question.

"Were you in love with him?"

Hermione blinked, turning towards him with a surprised expression.

"With Harry?" Her voice sounded empty, even to her own ears. It seemed funny how she knew who he was talking about, and if he wasn't giving her such a serious look, Hermione would have laughed it off and ignore it entirely.

But looking into his eyes felt like he was actually compelling her to tell him the truth despite the fact Klaus gave no order in her doing so.

"No…I wouldn't say that I was. I loved him to the point where I basically sold my soul to you."

She didn't see him cringe at her careless words.

"Did you ever think there was a possibility?"

"I thought about it-once, really. It was when Ron abandoned us…. But I stopped myself. Denied my feelings to go on any further than the boundaries of friendship and familial love because I was supposed to be in love with Ron, right?"

Klaus clicked his tongue at her, his eyebrows furrowed together in a look of disapproval.

"Why deny yourself of anything you desire when you live such a short life?"

"Because," she licked her chapped lips, "_because_ I don't want to mess up the only one I have."

It was with Hermione's words that made him realize.

Those words made him _remember _that Hermione, his little pet, was still human, and ultimately still **fragile**_._

Klaus sometimes forgot that Hermione wasn't invincible like him and his family, no; she was just an enhanced mortal with a longer lifespan and a fancy magical stick. He sometimes forgot that he could actually break her bones beneath that soft skin by accident. And most of all, he sometimes didn't realize that it was her heart that was truly beating when they were together.

Klaus often wondered what life would have been like if they were different people.

**~x~**

…_**.December 3rd….**_

"The thing about wand is that it really isn't that different from a muggle weapon despite the fact it has the ability to do almost anything if you have the will to do. And that is also why it makes it so dangerous and perhaps more like a gun than anything really."

Elijah raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her words, glancing at the small wand that was in his hands.

It was nothing but a mere stick, he thought, shaking it slightly.

"Oh, really, it doesn't seem like much," he mumbled.

"I know this is going to sound so corny, but _guns don't kill people_. People **kill **people, and so do wands. Or any weapon really. It's the intention of that person that is dark," Hermione stated, casually looking through a shelf that carried a number of rare texts that the Originals had collected over the centuries.

Their library even rivaled Hogwarts.

"What do you think is my brother's intention then?" Elijah asked both out of curiosity and boredom, setting down the wand onto the hard wooden table in front of him.

"What is his true intention throughout the centuries, Elijah? To be the most powerful being in the world immortalized with his good looks? Or to basically build an army of hybrids? To protect himself and his family?" Hermione sighed, giving up on her quest to find a book.

It was simply too hard to search for one when you were burdened with a loaded question like that.

"Do you want to know what I truly think?"

Elijah glanced up at her, his dark gaze meeting her own, and for a moment, he wondered why his brother chose her as their witch. She was simply _too_ young to be plucked from her own world and being shoved into a life of extravagance and danger such as this. Hermione was clearly meant for something more than just being a slave to his brother's will.

It was a sad sight to see her being locked up in such a pretty cage.

It was even a _sadder_ sight to see her fit so well in their life of luxury and endless mood swings.

"Yes, Hermione, I do," he gave her a tentative smile, "I appreciate your thoughts. They are quite refreshing to hear, especially to an old man such as I."

Hermione sighed, plopping down next to him onto the window seat.

"I think your brother is just lonely. I think you all are. I think you are all cold and aloof, but that is to be expected when you have lived for a thousand years, from age. Not from some desire that made you completely mad. At least not yet. I think you all are simply yearning for a new experience that life hasn't given you," Hermione breathed, and he could hear her heart pummeling against her chest, "And I think that you are _all_ wicked and twisted people."

"Hermi-" "I'm not done yet!" She chastised, shutting him up with a glare.

Elijah nodded, his lips thinned with displeasure at her words.

"_But_ I think there is more to all of you than being simple villains. I've seen a true monster, Elijah, that enjoyed everything about taking lives. No doubt, your brother does, too. As well as the rest of you at times, but there is more to him than just some bi-polar lunatic who enjoys people kissing his feet. There is more to you all, really," she glared at him once more when he opened his mouth to say something, effectively shutting him up, "I think your intentions from the beginning were formed out of the goodness of your young hearts, **noble **even, but I think all of that has changed. So I do not think of you all as truly good or truly evil, just like everyone else on this earth."

The eldest Original gave her a thoughtful look.

"Then what are you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, causing his bangs to move out of place. Hermione gave him a small smile, and for a moment, she wondered what he would have looked like with long hair. Would it have been soft and shiny like his short locks today?

"I don't know what I am anymore."

Everything was quiet after that.

**~x~**

…_**.December**__**9th….**_

It was innocent enough, the way he hid in shadows in the library, knowing that he had caught his sister and Hermione in the middle of one of their 'girl conversations.' Klaus would rather not face his sister's childish temper and the end of Hermione's wand, and perhaps it was his curiosity that made him stay.

_**Or**_ perhaps it was the witch's sad voice that made him stay.

"Rebekah," Hermione breathed out a heavy-hearted sigh, "Why do you stay with him when you are free to leave him?"

It was a simple question that made him ground his teeth together in silence.

His sister placed her glass onto the table, and she gave the witch a peculiar look. Klaus knew that their family was dysfunctional and that the love that they shared for each other was complex and fragile, and Klaus knew that by being such a complicated man made matters even worse.

"Because he is my brother, and where everything else has failed and disappointed me, I know that I still have him and my family. I love him. We all love him despite all the horrible things he has done."

Cold blue rested on the indifferent witch.

Hermione gave the Original a sad smile.

"Is it really _love_ when you are forced to feel it?"

"But don't **you** love him?" Rebekah's voice asked accusingly.

Klaus already knew her answer. His gut twisted in the most painful way, making him realize that what _he felt_ for the witch could never be returned, a sad truth. He thought he was done with emotions when Caroline had chipped a few pieces of his shriveled heart, and yet he allowed another woman to crawl her way into it once more.

Hermione was a sneaky witch, another fact that he had to learn the hard way.

He left them to their conversation, his heart unwilling to bear the pain any longer.

"He is a desperate man, Rebekah, and sadly, I do love him," Hermione let out a shaky breath, feeling the traitorous tears swelling up in her eyes, "But being _in love_ is a whole different matter."

The blonde Original gave her an odd look but seemed satisfied by the witch's honest words. Rebekah tilted her head to the side with a thoughtful expression, and for a moment, Hermione was puzzled by the vampire's calm state. She didn't know whether or not to be terrified.

The moments were painfully long and silent.

"But not impossible." And with that, Rebekah had left her speechless.

**~x~**

…_**.December 16th….**_

The peace that had settled into Mikaelson home was never meant to last, Hermione knew that, but she didn't expect _this_ to happen. Ever since her conversation with Rebekah a few days before, her feelings for Klaus became even more muddled. She _could_ love Klaus if he were different.

_Kinder, patient_, and **selfless**.

But she didn't expect the peace to be destroyed this way.

Everything was breaking again, and this time the pieces were sharper than ever.

Klaus could not and just _would_ not let things go. He couldn't let go the fact that she was involved with Ben, and he would sometimes gloat the fact that he had killed the man with his bare hands. It infuriated her how he had no respect for **her **and the dead, and yet he was the one to become enraged by her disloyalty.

He threw the table past her, shattering as it hit the wall, and she ignored the splinters that penetrated her skin. Hermione was used to his fury, and _that_ was not something that one had to get use to if it were actual love. No, Klaus was a hotheaded man who knew nothing about love.

"I _am_ loyal to you, you big dunderhead!" She shouted, her grip on her wand became tighter. Her whole body was tensed and ready for anything that he had to throw at her. She had been deflecting for the past hour or so.

"You are not loyal to me, witch. It was a _damn_ good thing I killed him."

He was devilishly wicked the way he gave her such a soft smile, but Hermione did not listen to his words. Her hardened heart would not allow it, and Klaus knew that. She could have loved Klaus if he was a different man.

_But he wasn't._

"Do not deny me, Hermione!"

"I have denied you _nothing_," She spoke the truth, and yet he still questioned her "You are the one who denies me my freedom!

"You promised to give me your _**everything**_, witch."

"I promised you my loyalty and anything **beyond** that is mine to keep," Hermione licked her chapped lips, trying to keep her tears at bay, "_**Mine to give**_."

Everything was breaking all around them. Everything they knew was slowly slipping away in this one silly little fight, a fight that they had taken to whole new level that should have never been even an option. Why were they even fighting?

"But you are _mine!"_

The words were harsh, screamed in a whisper that made everything seem blurry in her eyes. It was exhausting fighting with him, fighting against him, just fighting _him_ in general was tiring. Her heart felt heavy with these feelings that she felt for him. It was a twisted, _perverted_ version of love.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

The anger they had felt dissipated, and what was left was painful silence and open wounds.

"I don't love you."

He brushed it away with a soft caress.

"I know."

Hermione gave him a shaky smile.

"No you don't, Klaus, you really don't. You think my feelings will change for you, but they _won't_. Ever. I don't love you and I always will. Can't you see that you and I are nothing more than just…broken things trying to fix that empty space?"

"I _know_, Hermione, I know. I don't love you either." The words stung her, and she didn't know why. "But there is something unexplainable…something so strong between you and me. It can become more. Just _please._"

Such soft words crushed her.

"But just let me do this, just _once_. Just for once, please." Klaus implored, and he peered into her eyes with a look of desperation.

For once, Hermione allowed herself to _break_.

His lips were undoubtedly soft but chapped, and the sensation of this kiss was overwhelming. It was a mix of unbearable heat and mind-numbing cold, and for once, Hermione didn't know what to do with herself. All she could feel were his lips and his calloused hands caressing her cheeks, silently begging for her to give him a chance.

To give _them_ a chance.

But it was as if a string inside of her broke and she tore herself away from his embrace.

"_I can't, Klaus."_

"Hermione, _please-"_ "Klaus, no, we can't. We can't. _I can't_." Never before had she felt her tears so traitorous. His hands were wiping them away; the _very same_ hands that bruised her before were now trying to comfort her. Klaus was learning, he was _trying_, and Hermione knew that he was.

But she couldn't bring herself to succumb to his charms.

Hermione couldn't fall, no, it was too dangerous, too _reckless,_ but then again, when did she ever play it safe?

"_Yes, Hermione, you _**can**. Just this _once._"

And this time, Hermione didn't protest his.

She just let him have her heart for this one, fragile moment. The pieces were slowly brought together, forcing themselves to fit into these jagged edges. The feelings they had felt for each other was the result of their shared loneliness and bitterness. It was a sour experience, but it became slightly sweeter when they shared it together.

Klaus pulled away from her, his hands still cradling her lovely face. He placed his forehead against hers, and he listened to the loud thrum of her beating heart. Hermione was lovely even in her sadness, the sadness that he caused inside of her.

He loved her, he realized.

It was a moment of fulfillment where all the pieces finally molded together into one.

And then everything _crumbled_ all around them.

"I'm letting you go, Hermione."

**~x~**

…_**December 20th….**_

"Nik, just because your life is breaking doesn't mean you have to, you do know that, right?"

"The doppelganger is dead, Rebekah, no thanks to you. You and Kol are leaving me to God knows where, Elijah has already left a few weeks ago, Finn is dead…And…and," His voice broke, "_She's_ gone, Bekah, to her own normal life without me."

"Nik-"

"Do you think I did the right thing? Letting her go with her memories of us? Of what _could_ have been? Do you think she will be old with wrinkles and grandchildren the next time I see her? If I_ever_ do? She would be still lovely." He was rambling, and he knew that.

He was trying to stall his baby sister from leaving him.

When did he stop appreciating her presence and loyalty?

"Do you think she is _happy_?" Klaus held back his tears, not wanting look so pathetic in his little sister's eyes.

Rebekah gave him a sad smile, and suddenly, the bags in her hand felt so heavy. She knew that it broke her brother's heart to see everyone leave him, it was his worst nightmare coming to life, and she couldn't stay and help him recover. No, it was time to see the modern world without her older brother and his issues.

She wasn't being selfish.

She was chasing after her own freedom.

"I don't know."

Klaus didn't know anything anymore either.

"_**Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own."  
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.-**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:  
**_

**I do hope all of you enjoyed reading this, I had the pleasure in writing it all out for you. I do apologize for the delay of everything, my life became mess and schoolwork certainly did not help. Let's just say Life kept throwing cantaloupes at me, and I kept forgetting how to dodge. Though, these songs kept me on track for this story: ****  
**

**-_Poison and Wine _by The Civil Wars**

**-_Wild World_ by Cat Stevens**

**-_Breathe Me_ by Sia  
**

**-_Quelqu'un m'a Dit_ by Carla Bruni  
**

**And everything I could listen to by Lana Del Rey. I simply love her.  
**

**Anyways, do you have any thoughts, comments, etc?  
**

**I'm excited to hear them!  
**

**Until next time, lovelies!  
**

**-The Red Strings-  
**


	4. To Follow

**Hello lovely readers! I know it has been awhile since my last update. Also, I know I said that this was going to end with three chapters, but I could not finish it with just three chapters. Not yet, anyway. I am most likely going to finish this story with the next part, hopefully, maybe? I'm not sure, it depends on how I feel about the ending and development. Plus, school has been killing me with its workload, and since I am on winter break, I finally finished this chapter.  
**

**I thank you all for waiting patiently for me and for those who reviewed this story, I appreciate it very much!  
**

******This chapter holds a large piece of me, and this whole story became a healing process for me.** I'm going to say which part, but writing it out definitely helped me move on. So again, I thank you for waiting.  


**Furthermore, I also like to thank Winter's Empire for creating a fantastic and lovely banner for this story, which I completely love. You can go on my profile to see where you can view her creation. Thank you Winter's Empire, I am so flattered and completely in love with what you created. It helped me get back my groove and definitely brightened up my whole month!  
**

**Also, I like to thank my lovely friend, Lady A, for letting me use her copy of _The Secret World of Mermaids._  
**

**And without any further adieu, here it the fourth part of _Without Fault!_  
**

**I hope you all enjoy.  
**

**WARNING(S): Impolite language and drug abuse.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either series, **_**Harry Potter**_** or ****_The Vampire Diaries_. Nor do I own_ The Secret World of Mermaids. _  
**

* * *

**.:Part Four:.  
To Follow**

…_**December 17th….**_

It should have relieved her.

_It should have_.

But all it did was break her heart. Hermione laid out her heart for him, **Klaus**, the man who disrupted her life and made a mess of things. She allowed him to have a piece of her many broken pieces, and he slapped it all back in her face.

It was a laughable situation.

The _one time_ she became vulnerable was the moment he finally seized his chance in truly _**breaking **_her**. **All she felt was anger, humiliation….._disgust….._**disappointment**….Hermione was disappointed in herself.

How did she become so weak?

And here she was, throwing everything that belonged to her _before_ this life and everything that became **hers**. The only thing she did not pack was one single photograph that captured a fleeting moment of happiness with the Original family.

Red-rimmed eyes blinked, fingers softly tracing the faces of the family that had taken her in, the very same family that changed everything inside of her. Rebekah's mischievous smile, Elijah's lips quirked upwards, his eyes bright, and Kol's face twisted into that idiotic self-satisfied smirk of his.

_Klaus's_ arm around her.

She couldn't take this with her.

She placed it back down onto the bed.

Window open, Hermione felt the winter air, bringing her everything she had missed in this makeshift world of money and brutal power.

_Freedom._

But she also felt her heart break.

Tired eyes and heart heavy, Hermione disapparated, casting her thoughts and feelings away.

Not a single tear was shed when she left.

**~X~**

…_**December 20th….**_

The minute Hermione returned home, she began her journey on going on a bender. She did not care if she looked like absolute _shite_, no, not at all. Nor did she care that the air became stale in her flat, dust covering every surface, and the cold invading her home.

All of her stuff was still unpacked.

No, she didn't give a _shite_ at all.

Not since three days ago when she came back.

All she needed was to drink this pain away in this bar, where all the pain and joy was shared among all strangers.

"Woah, there, 'Mione!" The heavily Irish accent sounded like home to her, _childhood_ to her.

"You look like-" "Shite, I know, Seamus. Please tell me something I don't know."

Hermione truly expected him to leave her after that, but it surprised her when he wrapped a warm arm around her. She turned to him, eyes of blue bringing her familiar comfort. Seamus's eyes were never pale and innocent as Ron's nor was it shocking with a splash of green as Klaus's.

_Klaus._

Her heart ached.

"See that you still have a smart mouth, Granger," the Irish man flashed her charming smile, "Harry told me all about your world adventures and whatnot, even suspected that a guy was involved."

She tried not to flinch in her drunken haze.

"N-no guy was involved. At least, not anymore." Hermione wasn't trying to _sound_ like she just got dumped straight on her arse. No, she should be **celebrating** that she was finally free from Klaus's grasp, but why did she feel so lonely and betrayed?

Seamus arm around her became tighter, in a way that tried to give her comfort, but instead made her body squirm with discomfort.

"I'm sorry 'bout that 'Mione." He sounded apologetic, but those eyes shone of something else. "No guy can be ever good enough for a girl such as yourself. Pretty as you are smart, you should have guys stumbling over their own feet for you."

Hermione laughed a hearty laugh, her voice breaking at the end.

She was trying so hard not to cry.

"I just want one."

It was a confession from her heart, slipping passed her lips. Seamus hugged her once more before releasing her from his arms. He signaled the bar tender for a drink and another one for her. His blue eyes looked over to her, long and thick lashes framing them, and perhaps it was the alcohol that made her want to find comfort in him.

"He mattered that much to you, eh?"

Hermione never answered him.

Instead, she poured out her feelings to another bottle.

**~x~**

It was a moment of weakness, of need, and desperation. The weight of him was comforting but foreign at the same time, and the hole in her heart ached. It ached for affection and relief, she cried for _him_, even in this hurried state of messy passion. It was not a moment of love or affection but rather a moment of selfishness and manipulation.

_Klaus. _**Klaus. **_**Klaus. **_

And yet all she could taste and smell was Seamus with his spicy, cinnamon scent.

And everything was so _wrong. _

She manipulated his desires for a sense of fulfillment, no matter how fleeting it was, and he became selfish in taking whatever he could get in her broken state.

They did not love each other nor did they feel any such feelings towards one another except what she actually thought was **friendship**_._

But that turned out to be a _lie _in this stupid, _**stupid **_mess of _lies_.

Hermione gave and gave, and he slowly took the remaining pieces of her heart.

She was now truly broken because it was not the man she loved that had broken her down into nothingness, no, it was the shadows and fake smiles of a disguised boy who played the part of the faithful friend flawlessly.

With each messy kiss, he tore out each piece of her heart. Her mind screamed in revulsion with every touch, but her body responded with her heart's grief. She loved _him_, she was _in love_ with **him**, not this silly little boy who held onto her.

Seamus took and took, and she gave and gave.

Everything ended when he finally destroyed her.

Seamus left her curled up in bed, sheets tainted with the evidence of what they had just done.

Sheets stained with her tears.

And when he left, he gave a look of nothingness and perhaps a hint of sadness, but for what? He was the one who had truly destroyed her, watching as he plucked her wings off. The wheels had shifted once more, and the image of her changed.

No longer was she whole or partially intact.

No, now she was less than that.

She was now truly nothing.

She did not matter to him now, neither as a friend nor a one-time lover.

She mattered to no one.

She clutched onto the porcelain for hours that night, emptying out her disappointment and disgust.

She cried until her heart bled dry.

That was the day she lost someone who meant nothing to her at all.

**~x~**

…_**.December 25th….**_

"Come on, 'Mione. I know you are in there! Seamus said that you were back." She winced at the mention of the sandy-haired man, burying herself even more into her covers. "I'm not mad, okay? Just open up the door, I'm worried."

Every little sound made her head pound, making her regret her decision of not making any hangover potions or even buying some damn aspirin.

Some Christmas this year has been, she thought bitterly.

"I have aspirin and soup, 'Mione. I know you've been on a bender so open up." Harry kept banging on her door as if _that_ would make her want to get up from her warm fortress to open that damn door.

But aspirin did sound right about good at the moment.

"_Please."_

Hermione groaned, moving the blankets off of her, and with heavy limbs and puffy eyes, she trudged onwards towards the door. Harry was determined on breaking down her door with the way he was banging on it.

She cracked the door open, one bloodshot eye peeking through.

"What do you want, Harry?" Hermione croaked, throat dry as if she had been only ingesting dust for the past few days.

Which she has in this dirty place.

The door slammed open with the dark-haired wizard tackling the other into a warm, _comforting_ hug. The scent of sugary sweets and pumpkin brought tears to her eyes, and Hermione did not reject her sweet, sweet Harry. Pale, dirty, and donning grey rags, she held onto her best friend, crying tears that she had thought had ran out.

Harry held onto her, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"It's okay, 'Mione, you're home." He whispered into her rat-nest hair, just thankful to have her back. "You can tell me anything and everything."

She just cried harder into his shoulder, trembling not from the cold but from the relief she felt.

_Home_. This was her home. She was back.

And yet her heart wasn't to be found here.

**~x~**

…_**December 31st….**_

The Weasley family had came a long way since the loss of two children to the war, but it was always during the holidays and New Year's that it reminded them of what they lost. Two empty chairs were always ignored, but she always noticed the way their smiles would fall slightly at the sight of them.

Ron and Fred were still open wounds in all of their hearts.

Pale and still broken-hearted, Hermione grasped her cup, her shaking hands sneaking a small bottle of vodka into her pumpkin juice beneath the table. It was just hard to _breathe_ in this atmosphere, this rebuilt happiness. Their idle chatter became background noise to her, their laughter silent, and it reminded her of what she didn't have.

_Love. Love. Love._

Mr. Weasley aged beyond his years after the war, but his clear blue eyes still looked at his wife with love. When she wasn't looking and too busy scolding George for being such a rascal, a smile would creep on his lips, eyes crinkled with adoration.

_Love. Love. Love._

Hermione took a gulp of her concoction, eyes flickering towards the other couples at the table.

Fleur has had an ever present smile on her lips, peeking down at her child. Happiness radiated from her whereas Bill would relax in his chair, watching the two loves of his life in silent content. She cooed, he smiled, and despite the scars, Hermione thought he was handsome with such an expression on his hardened face.

"My Victoire." Fleur cooed into her child's hair, smiling up at her husband.

He simply tucked a stray golden lock behind her ear.

_If Ron could see him now. _

The booming laughter made her look, fully aware of whom it was. George shone with happiness, his arm around his new wife, Angelina. Even with only one ear, he still looked dashing, and Angelina was beauty and all-around sweetheart.

However, George would still look around the room as if expecting his twin to pop in any second, but he always met disappointment and grief.

But he had love to anchor him back down.

She didn't.

Hermione felt a twinge of jealousy.

"Charlie should get an actual girlfriend instead of those dragons." A very pregnant Ginny complained, rubbing her swollen belly lovingly.

Harry chuckled, eyes gleaming with happiness.

He would be a wonderful father with a plenty of love to give, Hermione thought as she watched the two. Ginny was going to have a son in the next month or so, and even though her moods would swing from one extreme to another, she still glowed with happiness.

"Admit it, Ginny, you just miss your brother!" Harry laughed.

"Well, he isn't getting any younger. I wouldn't mind some more grandchildren," Mrs. Weasley piped in, "And besides, we hardly ever see him."

"Mum, you need to relax. You already have a grandchild and a grandson in a month! And hopefully," George's eyes shone with mischief, "another one in nine months!"

Angelina slapped his shoulder with an offended expression.

"I thought we agreed to tell everyone when the time was right, George! This was hardly the right time to-" She was quickly shushed by her husband's beaming smile.

"I couldn't wait to tell them." George held onto her hand, placing a quick kiss on the back of it with a large grin plastered on his excited face.

Laughter and happiness exploded around the table, congratulations being exchanged. Mrs. Weasley had burst into a happy round of tears, and Mr. Weasley laughed at his wife's ridiculous response, love present in his eyes.

Bill sat in silence with a small smile, and Fleur held onto Angelina's hand and her baby in the other. And Harry and Ginny took a moment to look at each other, their gazes meeting in a silent and shared joy.

Hermione suddenly felt like a stranger in her own world.

Even in when there was a large hole in this picture, they all still found a sense of happiness.

All except her.

**~x~**

…**January**_** 2nd….**_

"You know, Granger, it would be nice to be welcomed with a smile, you know," Draco's aristocratic drawl was a familiar comfort that she had quietly welcomed, "And Merlin, Granger, you look like death!"

A tired smile tugged at her lips.

"Good to see you still blunt as ever, Malfoy."

The blond flashed charming smile, pushing his way into her flat as if he had always belonged there. Surely there was a great improvement since Harry had stopped by a few weeks ago, but several boxes were still unpacked or half-way finish, all lying on the floor abandoned. He casually looked over the mess, even the little section where it seemed she had a little breakdown if the shredded photos indicated otherwise.

"Potter told me about that mystery fellow that broke that Gryffindor heart of yours. It's a good thing you have such wealthy friends, Granger, or you'd be stuck in a rut, ugly and alone."

Hermione chuckled at the wizard's words, too amused and too tired to be offended by Draco's usual snobbery.

The friendship between them was a tentative one at first, and to be honest, it seemed short-lived after the war. It changed everyone in some way, and it served as a wakeup call to the blond aristocrat. Blinded his love for his father and bound by duty to uphold the Malfoy name and tradition, he was led astray.

But deep inside, he was just a simple man trying to be the dutiful son.

In the midst of court troubles and hardships, Hermione stumbled upon him as a broken man sitting alone in a muggle pub. His mother was in custody, his riches and lands were taken as well, but the stubborn blue-blood did not let them take his spirit.

But for that one night, he allowed himself to break.

It was the beginning of an ironic friendship, miseries and thoughts shared over beer

"And why would I be grateful for you being richer-"

"Well, richer by the second with those investments and whatnot, if you want to be so correct about it." Draco dusted off the couch seat before plopping down on it, taking his place in this messy life of hers.

He always forced himself into her life like always.

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, Mr. Malfoy, why should I be grateful for your wealth?" She raised an eyebrow in question, crossing her arms in front of her.

The aristocrat gave her a self-satisfied smirk at the sight of Hermione wrapped up in her burgundy robe and her Chudley Cannons pajama pants peeking through. He tilted his head to the side, amused.

"Because I know you've been a bit lazy, miserable, and your brain cells have been dying without any sort of stimulation so I signed you up to volunteer with me," He waved his hand at her, shrugging, "it should also get you over that blasted fear."

Honey eyes widened.

"Draco…what sort of volunteer work did you sign us up for?"

A sly smile appeared on his lips.

"Cleaning up some shores….to help the merfolk, of course."

Hermione simply stared at him, speechless by either his insanity or overly-inflated ego. _As if_ she would actually consider doing that sort of volunteer work especially if it was with the Malfoy heir. She couldn't imagine him doing anything that required breaking a sweat, except, of course, Quidditch but that was beside the point.

An eyebrow was raised, challenging her.

"Don't tell me you're being a chicken shite about this, Granger." He smirked, knowing that he had set out the bait.

The Gryffindor in her snapped, and he was chuckled internally when he saw that stubborn glint in her eyes once more. Slytherin that he is, he knew that the curly-haired witch wouldn't be able to back down from a challenge, especially if it was paired up with taking a shot or two at her blind bravery. Hermione growled at the sight of his widening grin.

"Who are you calling chicken shite, _ferret?_"

Good times, his lips quirked up into a mischievous smile, good times.

**~x~**

…**_January_**_** 5th….**_

The rush of blood and the heat inside of her increased, all following the tempo of the music, and she couldn't help herself from smiling. It was so dramatic yet so fun, and suddenly she could almost remember Viktor's strong hands on her waist, lifting her up and twirling her as if she was a princess.

And yet, she was nothing like that little girl right now.

Dirtied by hard work and covered in sweat, Hermione cheered along with the crowd, enjoying the recorded sounds of Brahm's _Hungarian Dance No. 5_ being played. Wizard or not, music was music, one of the few things that transcended time, cultures, and language.

The night was young, the fire was warm, and it was a long way from the chilly grasps of home.

_Which wasn't really home anymore_, but she expelled that thought quickly.

Hermione enjoyed the warm, humid air that Australia had, even if it made her usual wild curls even wilder. When Draco offered- it was more of a _challenge_, really- her to come along with him, was followed up by an insult-match between them, just for old times' sakes, but she agreed knowing that she couldn't back down when she saw that smug expression on his face. Though, she was glad that he pushed her into coming along with him.

Of course, Harry didn't approve but conceded after promising him that she would be home in time for the birth of his daughter.

As if she would _miss_ that.

The memory of the snarky aristocrat rolling his eyes at the dark-haired wizard's apparent worries made her chuckle.

"_If Ginerva wasn't the one supporting the baby lump, I would have suspected it would have been __**you**__, Potter, to be the expecting mother with all this nonsense!"_

Harry watched her go with a worried expression, hugging her as if he was terrified of her leaving him forever, but of course with a chaste kiss on the cheek, she reassured him and bid him a hopeful goodbye before joining Draco to the timed portkey.

In a distance, she saw a flash of sunset locks and a round belly, a face filled with love and hope.

Ginny waved goodbye to her, sending her heart to Hermione's own.

"Different, aren't they?" Draco's characteristic drawl pulled her back from her thoughts.

He was staring off into the distance, and the soft lull of the rolling waves reminded her of where she was. Hermione followed his gaze, landing upon the curious mermaid that sat behind the rocks, studying them. Well, not _them_ exactly but someone else in their lively group.

Again, her gaze followed and it found the dancing form of Samuel Grey, the group's sweetheart. He was a clean cut man who loved his coffee black but had severe sweet-tooth, laughed to his heart's content, and as far as she knows, a good man all around.

Soft blond hair and pretty eyes of baby blue, he was the supportive cushion for everyone in this group.

And it seemed he was also the love of this mermaid.

"_Hil-hinneth-azah, _the broken-hearted, or also known as Pearlweepers. The shape shifting lot of the merfolk, much more accepting of humans than the ones back at Hogwarts, and unfortunately, they have an affinity to fall in love with humans. They often cry pearls, knowing that they cannot be with the one they love." Draco explained with an unreadable expression on his handsome face.

"Shape shifting, you say? So I guess _The Little Mermaid_ had some seeds of truth."

"That story was written by a wizard who was there to watch the thing unfold, actually. His texts became lost, though, but was discovered late on and republished as a muggle's work. However, little research was done on merfolk at this time, much less on Pearlweepers. Fact and fiction were so integrated with one another that it was hard, but it's a fact that Pearlweepers can transform."

"But then it feels like walking on broken glass for them." Hermione whispered.

Draco gave her a tight smile.

"And yes, Granger, they do actually die when their love remains unrequited. Death by a broken heart, and it's all for love. They become fixated on _one_ person, and if they don't have that _one_ person, life becomes meaningless for them."

"They return back into the sea, though, in the form of sea foam."

It was a bitter chuckle that escaped his lips.

Hermione often wondered about Draco's own heartbreak.

She remembered that three-month long bender he put himself through, though; Draco never came around on telling her why. Hermione remembered how he locked himself in his study for hours on end, only to come out to replenish his alcohol stash, and when he was ready to face the world once more; his heart was hidden and protected by a bush of thorns.

It was as if he became even more emotionally handicapped.

Hermione looked at him.

And he kept looking on in a direction that she knew she could never find and follow.

Somehow, this trip seemed like it was to heal them both from the abusive and harsh ways of love.

Love.

It's not what all she needed.

It's what she wanted.

**~x~**

…_**January 25th…..**_

In all the years during Hogwarts and in the midst of battling for her life, Hermione never went through the experimental stages as a teenager. However, it was not like she minded, she was proud of her own abilities and intelligence, but to become someone different and new had a certain appeal to it.

And so she went through a phase.

Draco balked at her, calling her ridiculous.

Harry was concerned but his silence on the matter was gentle support.

Ginny would simply smile at her.

She exchanged her comfortable jeans for the flowing skirts and dresses, and for once, Hermione let her hair down without the usual grumble and gripe. Suddenly she would play Neko Chase, sing to Gordon Light, and hum Norah Jones as she cooked, dancing along with light steps. Everything became organic and fresh, and she even picked up the hobby of beading and baking.

The curly-haired witch even dabbled in becoming a vegetarian for awhile but being friends with a bacon-loving Harry, her attempts of converting failed.

Her empty apartment slowly became home again, the boring beige walls transformed into a rusty red, the lights replaced with hanging orange lamps, imitating the colour of flames. Shelves filled with research papers were soon replaced with framed pictures, local artwork, and little knit-knacks she obtained in her short travels with the Malfoy heir.

Hermione even went through a mini-phase of posing as a nude model for aspiring artists at a nearby university.

Of course, both Draco and Harry jumped on her arse about it and made her quit the ridiculous thing.

"_I wish I was the moon,"_ Hermione sang, covering the chicken breasts with bread crumbs, "_Tonight!"_ She should have felt silly, singing and dancing in her kitchen all alone with chicken breasts in front of her.

But in this simple moment she felt _free._

The snow no longer seemed like it forsaken her but rather welcomed her.

Home was slowly becoming home again.

Even if it didn't feel _right_ deep down.

**~x~**

…_**.February 1st….**_

It was happening all so fast.

Ginny's water had broke a few hours ago, and yet when they were on the way to the hospital, she was still waddling besides her, holding onto her hand as if there was nothing wrong with this scene.

The redhead would simply laugh, darks circles beneath her eyes, but she still looked lovely nonetheless.

Hermione was the one panicking rather than her dear friend, who rubbed her swollen belly as they both walked to St. Mungo's. Ginny looked at her with an odd expression after Hermione yelled for one of the healers, screaming that a _baby_ _was ready to come into this world._

This horrible, _horrible_ beautiful world of theirs.

"Whatever that man has done, Hermione, you cannot love him until you are honest with yourself."

It was unexpected wisdom that was said by her, and for a moment, Hermione was caught off guard. She often forgot that Ginny was no longer that young redheaded child in Hogwarts, seeking her brothers' approval while defying them all at the same time. Ginny wasn't the lovesick fool who followed Harry with her eyes.

She, too, had grown up so much.

And Hermione felt so silly when she cried in front of her pregnant friend.

Ginny cried, too.

**~x~**

When Hermione called the soon-to-be-father, Harry had dragged Draco along with him and Teddy, his hair in disarray and his glasses crooked.

He looked absolutely _horrified _when a healer came out to escort him to the room, and Hermione couldn't help but to laugh at his helpless expression. Even Draco chortled as if the birth of Harry's newborn would be his ultimate demise.

Teddy was left behind with them on Draco's suggestion to Harry.

"_Wouldn't want to scar the kid for life with all that mess, Potter!"_

Hermione felt happiness settling in.

The birth was an easy one, and Ginny gave life to a son with dark locks and an easy cry.

_James Sirius Potter_.

Teddy looked over at his adoptive mother, eyes shifting to a hazel colour, filled with curiosity and pure, joyous love. Ginny motioned him to come closer, and he did. Hermione watched the scene unfold, and Harry's swelled up with tears.

He finally found happiness.

And Hermione was slowly finding a piece of hers.

"Do you want to hold him, Hermione?" Ginny offered as Harry gave his son back to her.

Hermione blinked, feeling suddenly awkward by her question.

Should she….?

"Go on ahead, Granger, I'm about to take a picture," Draco quietly ordered the witch, pushing her forward with a soft shove, "Happiness of the moment."

Hermione held out her arms, unsure what to do. She was never the maternal one, but with quiet assurances and instructions, Ginny gave the slumbering babe into her arms. And in one moment, Hermione felt all her defenses fall at the sight of her godson.

_So tiny. So fragile._

He had Harry's nose and Ginny's mouth, and he definitely had the love of his parents.

_And hers_.

She didn't even notice the flash of the camera.

"Isn't he perfect?" Harry chuckled.

Hermione smiled and said: "Until he starts pulling a prank or two on you."

**~x~**

…_**. Two years later, April 15th….**_

What a strange occurrence, Hermione thought, as she sat by herself in a busy family restaurant.

Wasn't she with Draco in Belgium?

Then why was she here back at home?

The scene seemed so familiar, she thought, looking outside at the downpour. She didn't even look at the food that was placed in front of her nor did she hear the woman's cheery voice hoping that she would enjoy her meal. No, Hermione couldn't tear her eyes away from the window.

She felt so tired and plain in her jeans and plain grey sweatshirt.

Ed Sheeran's _Kiss Me_ echoed throughout the cheery place.

And then she felt an undeniable pull when she saw a man pass by the window.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from running from her seat outside the door. All she could see was that man walking in front of her with such a strong and arrogant stride, even through this rain, and it made her heart crack.

Her lips moved and she wasn't sure if she had said his name.

The man stopped as if he heard her heart's will.

The rain was the background music to the artist's words, and she slowly walked towards him with large, hopeful eyes. Hermione did not care if she was soaked to the bone or if she catches her death by being outside in this horrible weather, _no_, she did not care as long as she was here beside him.

The warmth of his hand against her cold cheek was welcomed, and Hermione felt her heart twist in the most pleasant way. The way he looked at her made her whole entire being tremble, and she felt her eyes swell with tears. He smiled at her, not with the usual arrogance that she had always hated to adore but with tenderness that knocked the breath out of her.

Hermione threw her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his neck for she was too short to kiss him without any form of his help.

"_Hermione."_

It was all but a whisper that disappeared in the pitter-patter noise of the rain.

Klaus looked at her, his thumb pressed against her bottom lip.

Hermione knew she looked like a mess, but she could not bring herself to care.

_She was in love now._

"Don't you feel it, too?" She whispered, hoping that he felt the same.

There was too much emotion, too _much_ chemistry between them. He could not refuse her again, not like this with her heart out in the open once more. Not when she foolishly made the same mistake again. He leaned in towards her, pressing his forehead against hers.

Klaus was a breath away from pressing his lips against hers.

"Hermione, I-"

"Klaus?"

Hermione's pleasant ache in her heart twisted into something more painful, something _less forgiving. _She looked at Klaus's pained expression, and when he pulled away from her, she suddenly felt cold and **alone**.

He turned away from her, and Hermione looked passed him.

Caroline looked at her with a curious expression on her lovely face.

The young vampire opened her mouth, but it was not the soft American lilt that escaped her lips.

"-_Granger!"_

Hermione opened her eyes, and she felt a stream of sadness flow outside of her. She felt her heart break once more, and she didn't know _why_. The dream had left her hurt, yes, but why did it leave her feel so _empty?_

It felt so _real_ and so _painful._

She felt Draco's comforting hand against her back, rubbing soothing circles against it as he whispered comforting words into her messy hair.

A sob escaped her.

"I-I-I can't forget, D-Draco. It hurts. _It hurts_. I just want to be with him, and I know that it's _so wrong._ I love him. I love him. I can't forget!" She cried harder.

The Malfoy heir let her cry into his shoulder, softly rocking her back and forth. He rarely ever saw Granger break down like this, especially in front of him. She was the strong-willed Gryffindor who threw caution out the window, who felt so much in one moment that it consumed her whole. She felt too much even if she didn't want to, and she gave too much of herself away.

Granger was and always will be a foolish, courageous Gryffindor.

"This is what happens when you let people in so easily."

Hermione couldn't help but to agree even if she was deep in her own misery.

**~x~**

…_**.May 24th…**_

The squealing laughter made her smile, tearing away from her writing to see the little form run towards her. Hermione stood up from her seat to crouch down, readying herself for the little impact he made against her. Harry's laughter echoed from the door.

"He can't stop running, 'Mione!"

She grinned at her best friend.

"He's out to search for trouble! Just like his father!" Hermione picked up the two-year old James into her arms, placing a sweet kiss upon his brow.

"Where is Ginny?" She asked, hugging her godson.

"She's a bit under the weather so she's asleep in bed. She was a bit sad for not being able to visit since you have been gone for a few months," Harry gave her an accusing look, despite his friendly tone, "Anyways, how was Belgium?"

Hermione tried to push her heartache aside.

She forced a smile on her face.

"It was beautiful, and I helped out Draco in finding a present for Astoria."

Harry raised a suspicious eyebrow but did not question his best friend.

"He's still seeing that Greengrass heiress? Go figures." He snorted, helping himself to Hermione's fridge.

The curly-haired witch frowned at her friend's tone, setting down her godson. He wobbled a bit, but he gained his balance before taking off towards her living room. Hermione crossed her arms, scowling at her seemingly-oblivious friend. Harry and Draco had a careful friendship with one another, and sometimes they would both take up old habits when regarding each other.

"And what's wrong with Astoria?" She asked sweetly, her forced smile sending alarms off in Harry's head.

He grinned at her sheepishly.

"Gee, 'Mione, I didn't mean anything by it! I was just saying that of course he'd go and date a high-standing socialite. If he marries her then their babies would have be made out of cold hard plastic with the way he acts."

"Draco is a harmless snob and Astoria is a sweet girl!"

Harry gave her a tiresome look.

"There's nothing sweet about Slytherins-" "_Former-"_ "Yes, yes! Former Slytherins is what I meant!" The dark-haired wizard waved her off.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"So what's the purpose of the surprise visit other than insulting dear Draco?"

Harry had gone still, pausing the making of his banana sandwich. She watched him as a flitting of expressions had gone across his face, and her heart twisted inside of her. Harry hardly ever looked like that unless it involved Ron.

And it seemed like her heart did stop.

_Ron_.

"What is it?" She demanded.

"Arthur think it would be best if we let go of Ron," Harry's voice cracked ever so slightly, "He said it's best to move on."

He started to busy himself with his damn sandwich.

"_How can he say that?"_ Hermione screeched, her fists clenched in fury. "That's his _son_, Harry."

Harry slammed down the jar of peanut butter.

"And he's already _dead_, Hermione," He sounded so stern and yet so broken at his own words, "He's breathing and his heart's beating, but he's _dead_. He's been dead for years! But no, you didn't even care to think of that because you were too damn _sad_ and **selfish** to realize that."

Everything broke inside of her.

All the sadness and rage that she had so _carefully, _**so damn carefully** held inside was released, and everything was flowing outward like violent water rushing out a broken dam. Her cheek reddened with anger, tears flooding her eyes, and for a moment, she didn't give a damn that Harry was her best friend.

"_I'm selfish?_ I'm the selfish one? And yet you were the one who left me by myself to my misery as you went off to fool yourself into thinking that everyone is okay! You have Ginny and Teddy and James! Arthur and Molly have each other and their family! Draco has Astoria Greengrass, _bloody hell!_ I'm alone, Harry. I'm all alone, and you all left me here alone."

Harry's heart was breaking in front of her, and she couldn't stop herself.

"_Seamus __**used**__ me! _And yet you still have beer with him on Wednesday nights, unknowingly having fun with someone who practically almost killed your best friend inside! I miss Ron, too, Harry! Damn it all! We all do. I _loved _him, so I'm sorry that I'm so selfish-" She became silent when he hugged her, and she knew he was crying by the soft shake of his shoulders.

"You're finally being honest again." Harry cried, and it reminded of her the small, sensitive boy she had used to know.

Her heart softened and her tears ran dry.

She was being honest again.

**~x~**

…_**.Three years later, June 17th….**_

Five years had passed since she obtained her freedom, since she started to find herself once more. Three years since they finally pulled the 'plug' for Ron, finally giving him some semblance of peace even if it did break Mrs. Weasley's heart once more to do so, and everything began to settle into its place.

The happiness they all had lost was being rebuilt with new memories and hopes.

Harry and Ginny's family continued to grow, and every day their smiles would become even brighter. Draco finally had a steady girlfriend –now turned fiancée- , much to Hermione's amusement. Astoria Greengrass was a gorgeous, leggy brunette that balanced out Draco's haughty nature.

It was sad to see her last-_who hasn't been single for awhile- _single friend go.

Life became bearable for her, if a bit empty at times when she would return to her empty flat in the middle of the night.

But it was okay as long as she ignored the aching of her heart.

"It's edible body glitter," Daphne's giggling voice interrupted Hermione's train of thought, reeling her back to the present, "And I am _determined_ to have a bite of that bloke over there."

Green eyes shone with mischief as the former Slytherin stared down at the man who was giving her _bedroom_ eyes across the dance floor. Hermione rolled her own eyes but the amused smile still held its place on her lips.

It was Astoria's bachelorette party, and everything was extravagant, which should be if you were to become the future Missus Malfoy. _**The Bed**_was the center of money flinging in both circles of the muggle and wizarding world, and tonight seemed to top off every single party before this event.

Lights flashed everywhere, glitter became _air_ in here, and the dancers were exotically dressed as faeries as part of the theme that Astoria wanted. _Naughty faerietales_, the brunette said with a wicked smile when she discussed the plans with Hermione one night. Even the men who should have looked ridiculous in glitter still managed to look like _sex on legs_.

She went through many phases these past years, but _none_ of those involved any recreational drugs, both muggle and magical_._

_Until tonight_.

Daphne took a huff of a suspicious looking pipe, blowing out blue smoke that wisped itself around the falling glitter. It smelled sweet, reminding Hermione of an exotic fruit, and it enticed her. She leaned closer to the smoke, enjoying its warm and somewhat citrus scent.

"Doesn't it smell heavenly?" Daphne purred, whispering into her ear, eyes still glued to that man she spoke of earlier. "It's called _The Breath of Venus_."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see the man approaching them, a predatory smile on his lips. Daphne smoothed out her short dress, straightening herself out before taking her few steps towards a wild night.

The Greengrass heiress gave her a flirtatious wink, shoving the pipe into her hands.

"Give it a try, Hermione, gives you Gryffindors a whole new level of _courage_."

She watched the pretty brunette walk off, lightly touching the man's arm, leading him away to the dance floor. It was recklessness that unfolded before her, and for a moment, Hermione didn't know what to do.

She had gone through several phases over the years but never tried a single drug.

Tinkling laughter captured her attention, and she saw Lavender holding a similar pipe as she danced in between two delicious men. Her blue eyes looked up at her, and a _challenge_ flashed in those large eyes. It seemed the competition between them had never died over the years.

As if she would let an airhead beat her.

She knew that _The Breath of Venus_ was the wizard equivalent of marijuana, though, it somehow enhanced libido rather than acting out as a depressant. Her eyebrows scrunched together in thought, mentally listing the pros and cons for doing such a stupid thing.

Lavender's annoying giggle made that decision for her.

She tentatively took a small puff, coughing a little as she inhaled the substance. Hermione took another puff and then another and another, and slowly she lost herself in the mist of enchanting blue smoke. Her vision began to hold a dreamlike quality to it, bringing her new distorted reality and the _world's reality_ into one harmonious actuality.

Everything slowed down, colours becoming _intense_, and her movements transformed into grace. Sweat began to drip from her body, and the glitter clung to her as if it was a second skin. The beats of the song seemed to vibrate every fiber within her being, and she swayed.

Oh, how she swayed!

Memories and the present began to overlap, and the barrier between her heart and longing began to crumble. The longing and desire intertwined with one another, memories of his shocking blue eyes brought tears to her hazy eyes. It was as if someone had put a shroud over her perception.

_Klaus. Klaus. Klaus._

She had not thought about that name in a long time.

Lights flashed all around her, making the moments into a dream of dreams. She did not see eyes on her nor did she feel warm hands on her hips as she continued to move. The hands began rub her hips, bunching her slinky dress as the beat of the music became frantic. The warmth of the club became _unbearable heat_, the scent of clean masculinity became undeniable** sexy**, and the soft rhythm of her heart transformed into a pounding against her chest.

It was _hypnotic. _

_Klaus. Klaus. Klaus. _

A stubbled-chin rubbed against her exposed neck, and she couldn't help but _**moan**_**.**

Her dark eyes rolled back, every emotion and touch becoming _pure sensation. _

It was pure sensuality that moved on the middle of the dance floor.

And everything broke and resembled itself at the sound of his voice, a voice of remembrance, of dark promises that he would soon come to fulfill. It was the voice that she had longed to hear for the past five years.

"_Sweetheart." _

"_**You'll be free if you truly wish to be."**_

_**-Pure Imagination, Willy Wonka-**_

* * *

**Well, that is that! I wanted to write a chapter on Hermione's growth and journey on finding herself _without_ Klaus. I hope that it is good enough for you all. It took all lot of inspiration for me to start writing this and _finishing_ it. Again, I thank Winter's Empire for the lovely banner she made for me. I cannot help but to say I love it so much (for the millionth time!).  
**

**The Wooden Birds, Ed Sheeran, LIGHTS, Hana Yori Kichou Na, Imagine Dragons, and Maroon 5 helped me all lot for this chapter.  
**

**I have a bit of an obsession with Ed Sheeran at the moment.  
**

**That little scene with Hermione and Klaus was the result of _Kiss Me_ by Ed Sheeran coupled with Rainy Mood.  
**

**Anyways, enough with my rambling!  
**

**The next chapter will be up...whenever I suppose? Hopefully within the next few weeks or month, depending on if my Muse allows me to.  
**

**Any thoughts, comments, questions?  
**

**Then you know what to do!  
**

**Until next time, my lovelies!  
**

**-The Red Strings-  
**


	5. To Chase

**Hello everyone!**

**I know, I know! It has been _months_ since I've lasted updated, and I do apologize for that. School picked up its pace with competitions, exam preparation, and constructing papers for classes. Also, Life loves to be a damn comedian and has given me a few tests without even learning a few lessons beforehand. So it's been hard, I know, no excuse, right? But I've been working on this part from time to time when my heart and feelings inspired me. **

**The pain of losing love, either it be a friend or a lover, can be excruciating! However, you have to learn to move on and live on. **

**And yet, there is a part of you that won't let go.**

**And in this part, I suppose, this is my take on what happens when you won't let go of that love, when that love consumes you entirely to the point where it robs you the chance of loving another. I suppose I put my Klaus goggles on when I wrote these scenes, all in while letting my heart ink its way into these words. I apologize for any errors.  
**

**I hope you all enjoy.**

**ALSO, I love to thank Winter's Empire again for making the lovely banner for this story, which is the book cover now!**

******Disclaimer: I do not own either series, _Harry Potter_ or _The Vampire Diaries._**

* * *

**.:Part Five:.  
To Chase**

…_**January 20th…**_

The days became silent when true emptiness began to settle into its place. No longer did the halls echo with the confident strides of his younger sister, and no more were the soft turning sounds of Hermione's books. The arguments between Klaus and his brothers were a thing of the past now and left in its place is the aching in his heart.

It was his worst nightmare coming true.

He was now _truly_ alone in this world, and the saddest part was that everyone _chose_ to leave him.

Klaus swallowed the vodka along with his pride, his other hand holding onto a crumpled photograph of a smiling Hermione. He all but destroyed everything that reminded him of her. The sweet vanilla scent of hers was already disappearing, and he didn't know what to do with himself anymore.

It was so empty without her here.

**~x~**

…_**January 25th…**_

It was a cruel joke, he thought as he watched the young beautiful girl walked inside his home, the girl he so desperately wanted before all of this happened. She was so young and so curious, and he was so old and so worn down. He couldn't refuse her.

Not when he needed someone in his life.

"I'm wondering if your offer still stands," Caroline whispered, nervously licking her lips, "I feel like you're right."

Klaus chuckled into his hand, trying to bury the waves of bitterness deep down into his shriveled up soul. The girl he wanted to so much is crawling back to him, but the ironic thing was _she_ wasn't the girl he **wanted** now.

_Life is such a damn comedian._

"Offering yourself to a devil man, Caroline?" Klaus laughed, hiding his disappointment well. "What would dear Elena say?"

Caroline pursed her lips at him.

_Ah, they had a bit of an argument_.

"Do you not want me anymore?" She snapped, but he knew that there was a bit of pain underneath her words.

Klaus appeared before her, closer than ever.

"No, Caroline," he breathed, "I need you."

And with those words, he poured every bit of hurt and love into her in one single kiss.

But the kiss was never meant for her.

**~x~**

…_**June 26th…**_

Caroline was a fantastic woman.

She embodied what a woman should be.

She was utterly feminine with her long legs and soft curls, but she still held onto her independence despite the fact she was involved with a man who could easily killed her with his pinky. Caroline was the classic American girl, and yet she could never match Hermione's unconventional beauty.

Klaus always compared them.

It was unfair, but he couldn't help it.

Where Caroline's laugh would be a chiming sound, Hermione's laughter was that of pure happiness that she would rarely ever show. Caroline's hips would sway with confidence that matched even his own level of cockiness whereas Hermione's would ever so slightly sway. She walked as if she wanted to never leave a trace behind in this world.

It's been a months since she left.

It's been months since Caroline became his.

But all the details about Caroline were insignificant compared to her.

_Her_.

Hermione.

The woman he loved.

And the woman he compared to the woman he has now.

He couldn't forget her, and how can he?

When every detail about her was carved into his entire being.

**~x~**

…_**One year later, a few days before New Year's…**_

Sometimes it felt like a dream.

A dream that happened so long ago.

Months turned into a year….and slowly the year was turning into another…

How she smelled, how she felt….everything about her, everything that made him fall for him was slowly disappearing. He desperately clung onto those little things, trying to remember them, wanting to immortalize them and keep them forever in his entire being. He didn't want to lose these memories of her like he did with _her._

Hermione was his beginning, and he, Klaus, should be the end of the endless dream of them.

He would sometimes sit and tune out Caroline's words, letting his heart wander through the dark, trying to reach for the one it wants so badly. Sometimes its futile search would unearth a particular memory that would be usually boring but meant everything, and other times it left him out in the cold, shivering.

Sometimes when he made love to Caroline, all he could imagine was her.

Hermione.

Golden hair would transform into coiling locks splayed out beneath a panting woman, and her face would mold into another. Playful blue morphed into dark, witty eyes. A face much sweeter, yet aged with memories that cannot be shared. Everything he used to love became everything he _needed_.

Hermione was _love_.

His dream.

His reason.

She was everything in between.

The sweet curve of her mouth could be the last thing that would ever touch his lips, leaving him to eternal starvation, but he would not be able to regret such event. Her lips to him were like an answer to all the hours of praying, of questioning, of silence. Hermione was like a fleeting moment, and yet he could still feel her as if she were a vivid dream.

Only what he truly wanted was for the dream to become a reality.

And in these moments he knew that Caroline wasn't the one for him.

Perhaps she was never the one to begin with.

**~x~**

…_**After New Year's, February 2nd…**_

Caroline knew that whatever Klaus felt for her _before_ Hermione was a small candle next to what he felt for the witch. She knew that, he knew that, it was as if the whole world knew! But she could not leave him when he needed her. With a family gone, he was left alone in the world by _their_ choice.

She didn't know which one was worse.

Being abandoned because the ones you loved died or they _chose_ to leave.

And so she stayed with Klaus because she knew that not only he needed her, she needed _him_.

She left Mystic Falls for the glamorous world that he promised her as well as for the life that she yearned for back home. Klaus was new and exciting, he was _dangerous_. However, he was also charming, chivalrous when he wanted to be, and most of all, he was generous in the most surprising manner.

"Hold on for a moment, love," Klaus quickly kissed her cheek before running back to the convenient store.

Curious, Caroline looked back to watch the man she loves.

He was paying for two giant rainbow lollipop for two children who wore worn-out garments, looking at him with a bit of awe as he gave one to both of them. Whether Klaus was trying to be kind or overly-cautious, Caroline could not help but to giggle at his stony expression. Luckily, the children did not cower away from him.

The little girl, with her toothy-grin, thanked him while the little boy ran off with excitement.

Klaus was more human than the credit he gave himself.

She was falling in love with him more and more every day.

But she knew that he was falling a deeper in love with a dream.

**~x~**

…_**February 18th…**_

He desperately tried to _love_ her, he really did, and yet he couldn't, at least, not anymore. All the remaining room in his heart was given away to _her_, Hermione. The woman he loved, the woman he freed from their contract.

Klaus wanted to love Caroline, he really did, and it wasn't as if he had forgotten his feelings for her, _no,_ that wasn't the case at all. He simply loved Hermione _more_ than Caroline, and it showed. The taste of her lips, the softness of them against his felt _divine_ but not quite _right_.

Caroline's hair was too smooth, and her skin was too soft, free from hardships in her former human life.

It felt good but not right.

It was never right.

**~x~**

…_**Two years later, April 20th…**_

"-You _still _love her, don't you?" Caroline demanded, her blue eyes wet with tears. The photograph of Hermione was held tightly by her hands, and he knew that she could tear that last reminder of Love at any second.

"But I adore _you-"_ He started his words, but everything was done when Caroline threw the picture in his face.

"But I'm **still second place**."

Her pretty face crumpled into a moment of heartbreak, and she disappeared as he sigh a breath of relief. Klaus didn't even go after her, no, he simply picked up the remainder of his heart from the marbled floor, placing it close to his silent and empty chest. He knew that Caroline would come back.

Caroline wanted him to love her and only her.

Even when she knew he can't.

But he never did correct her after that.

**~x~**

…_**September 24th…**_

He hated it.

The nights would always become so cold and silent when she became distant. Klaus knew he was being unfair, but surely Caroline knew what she was walking into, right? She knew that he loved someone else, and yet she still came to him with open arms. How can she expect anything of him? More than what he has given her?

He gave her the world of beauty and wealth.

He gave her culture and memories.

Klaus gave her everything **but** his heart.

He sighed. "Can you stop acting like a child now?" The words were harsh but desperate.

He didn't want another fight tonight.

Caroline leaned back in her seat, uncaring that they might make a scene in this little restaurant, and she looked outside the window, letting the beauty of Prague slip past through her fingers. Jealousy can ruin anything and everything. Frustration and sadness made every experience with Klaus so bittersweet.

Did he even see her?

Or can he only see _her_, that other woman?

_Hermione_.

Anger swelled up inside of her.

"And can you stop being such a selfish bastard?" She matched his cruelty with her own. "You don't see me, Klaus. Do you even know who you are with sometimes?"

"Caroline-" "_Why can't you _**love**_me?"_

Her words struck him.

Memories of him asking Hermione the same exact question.

She sounded so small, trying to hold her tears back. She wanted to stop her heart from breaking in front of him. Caroline quickly wiped away the sadness that threatened to spill from her eyes. Underneath her beauty, she taped everything back together, holding back the feelings once more behind that stupid dam she had built over the time she has been with him.

Guilt began to flood in.

Klaus reached over to hold her hand in his.

He looked at her with….something unexplainable but it made her heart ache.

"I will try, Caroline, but it may take some time."

She'd give him all the time in the world if he could love her and only her.

_But trying did not always mean success._

**~x~**

…_**October 15th…**_

Caroline strolled down the streets of Paris, bloodshot eyes hidden by a pair of expensive Chanel sunglasses she had bought for herself that day. She and Klaus had gotten into another argument the night before, and she stormed out of the suite, her love and hate for him mingling even more. It was about the same thing, it always was about the same thing: Hermione.

The saddest thing was Hermione wasn't even physically part of Klaus's life anymore.

She had to compete with a woman who still held a place in the heart of the man she loved. A woman who wasn't even after Klaus's heart and yet still managed to fill his mind with memories of her; how the hell was she supposed to compete with that? Caroline wasn't competing with Elena Gilbert, who was a girl that attracted all the guys, no, Caroline was competing with a dream and hope.

Hermione was Klaus's dream.

And how the hell does a woman crush the dreams of the man she loves?

**~x~**

…_**Three years since Hermione, November 20th…**_

She hated Hermione.

_Hated her._

_Hated the very idea of her._

_Hated her for even existing_.

But Caroline knew, despite the all the bitter feelings she felt, she couldn't bring herself to hate a woman who spoke to her with kindness. A woman who she thought could become a good friend of hers, a person who saw more than an insecure, neurotic _monster. _She couldn't hate Hermione even when that was all she felt for the world at the moment.

And so she drowned her heart in a sea of booze, crying and ranting throughout the night. Caroline tried so hard to forget the pain, the disappointment, everything at that moment. She drank anything and everything, making her world slips into a world of slowed motions and self-pity.

She killed a man that night.

All she wanted was the warmth of a man's embrace, his attention on her and only her. The stranger was beautiful with a pretty curve that made his lips delectable, but the heat of his skin and the sound of the rapid heartbeat made everything feel like a _sick_ delicious dream.

But the guilt settled in the morning when she woke up beside the man's lifeless body, covered in the evidence of the sin she had committed the night before. She screamed, she cried, she _broke_ down. And so she called Klaus that morning, pleading for help like a youngling with its parent.

She killed a man.

Caroline tore out her pretty locks, her agonized heart screaming out into the world. This miserable, _miserable_ world. Eyes of beauty became tarnished, became _**hideous**_ because of this pain that strangled her heart. To be covered in that man's blood was maddening, to be inside of her skin was torturous. She tried to claw this _**monster's skin**_ off, and yet she knew it was futile.

Caroline became that monster that she feared and hated.

She couldn't stand it.

She hated herself.

Caroline stumbled into the bathroom, her eyes bleeding red. _She hated this face. _A face that will never age. With bleeding hands, she shattered the mirror. She couldn't stand it. Everything in her life became nothing. A life without love, without a future was a life not a life at all. At least, not a kind of life _she wanted_. Caroline did not want second place.

Not anymore.

But she didn't want to become a monster either.

What was she?

Was she even Caroline anymore?

Where did she go?

Where did Caroline run off to these past years?

The tears would not stop.

~**x~**

It was an hour before Klaus could find the hotel, and when he did arrive, he found Caroline cowering in the corner with eyes crying too many tears for one _human_ life. The room was a wreck with its furniture shattered and curtains shredded. He spotted her daylight ring across the room, bathing in the sun.

Klaus frowned as he picked it up.

"What in God's name are you doing, Caroline?" He snapped.

Caroline shook from her place.

"I can't do it anymore. I'm so _done_."

And yet she looked like the beginning to him.

Just not _for him_.

"You can't have a suicide episode every time you feed, love." Klaus sighed, walking towards her with his usual cocky attitude. He crouched down in front of her, taking her dry-bloodied hand into his and slipped her ring onto her dainty finger. She looked at him with a hopeful look, holding onto his hand as if that he would bring her back from her episode.

_Why couldn't she be like him?_

Klaus gave her a soft smile, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

With _love_.

_It was so wrong_. A man was dead because of her. **Another man**.

She cried.

"_No_, Klaus. I can't do _this_ anymore. I can't be _with you_. I'm done being second place. I'm done with you pushing me away. I'm sick of feeling like _absolute _shit every time we fight, and sick of calling you the morning after to clean up my **damn** mess. I'm so in love with you, you make me go crazy. But _I can't_ do this anymore. It's too much for me. I can't be second place anymore," she gasped, "I can't kill any more people because I feel like this. I _can't_."

Tears made her vision so hazy.

"I'm leaving you."

But what broke her heart the most was that his heart wouldn't be as damaged as hers.

_**HermioneHermioneHermioneHermione**_**.**

Caroline wasn't Hermione.

**~x~**

…_**November 25th…**_

Caroline had packed up everything and left him.

Just like everyone else.

Klaus drank his wine, not really savoring its flavor as he letting the world sinks in. His loneliness had yet to make a rampage in his heart, but he knew it will be a storm. He had _her_, why wasn't he satisfied in having a beautiful young woman like her? Caroline was his ideal woman. She was feisty, smarty, and undeniably sexy so why wasn't he happy?

_She wasn't Hermione_.

He threw the bottle at the wall, not really caring that he had destroyed one of his favorite paintings. He couldn't have her, yet his heart wanted her so. It hurt knowing that Caroline had left him because of his selfish heart, but he couldn't help it. Caroline knew what she was getting herself into.

She knew that he could give her the very little space left he had in his heart, but did that really justify anything?

"No," he whispered, "Not at all."

He sat back into his chair, defeated.

His family had left him.

Caroline walked out on him.

And Hermione….was simply gone.

He was all alone again.

It was only him…and the memories of _her_.

The sweetness of her scent, her laughter that had shaken him, and her _fine_ eyes; he could remember them, even when he was in the dreamy haze of his drunken stupor. Images of her would slowly become clear, the blurriness of time giving way into clarity when he let his mind connect with his heart. He should have been mourning for his loss of Caroline.

And yet here he was.

_**The mind and heart go to interesting places when under the influence of alcohol. Places you may not have expected, emotions you may usually ignore**_

**-Philip Wang, WongFuProductions-**

* * *

**And there you have it!**

**Part Five of _Without Fault_, but it is certainly not the last part. I keep saying the next chapter will be the last, but hopefully the sixth chapter will be the final part to all of this. I want to wrap this up, but not in messy way where I can't place a piece of myself into my work. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, even if it was slightly depressing.  
**

**So this chapter was heavily influenced by my own life, and I am sure everyone can relate to love troubles, may it be small or epic, it still hurts us in some way. We all carry a piece of that love with us, whether you want to or not, it's still there. And so, this chapter was my interpretation on hanging onto that love a bit _too _much.**

**Or "when love fails us or we fail love_." _Which is a fantastic quote from _After the Moment _by Garret Freymann-Wey, a great read. **

**And Caroline becomes part of the failure of love.  
**

**I hope you all have enjoyed reading this, and I hope it met your expectations.**

**Part Six is currently being written, which has a more hopeful tone to it.**

**An _almost_ happy ending for everyone.**

**Until next time!  
**

**-The Red Strings-**


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